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GROUP OF OSTRICHES. 



THE 



practical 
Ostrich Feather Dyer, 



BY 



ALEXANDER PAUL. 



REVISED AXD CORRECTED 



°\ 



I 

DR. M. FRANK. 




PUBLISHED BY 

MRS. DR. M. FRANK, 

"Textile Color ist/' 

506 Arch St., Philadelphia, Pa., U. S. A. 

1888. 



^ 

v* 



Copt/right, 1888, ly Mrs. Br. M. Frank. 
All liights Reserved. 



iX / 



PREFACE. 

In the preparation of this work it has been my aim to 
present Recipes, simple, yet complete in every detail, for 
dyeing every color and shade of color known. Relia- 
bility, practicability and rapidity I claim for this work, 
and would ask that it be judged not from a literary 
standpoint, but as a thorough and practical instructor 
in the art of Ostrich Feather Dyeing, as simplified and 
perfected by me during years of hard work and re- 
search. It is the first work of its kind ever put before 
the public in the English language, and will, in conse- 
quence, receive from those interested close scrutiny and 
criticism, which prompts the author to offer $1000 to 
any person who will prove that the recipes herein con- 
tained, or any single one of them, will not produce the 
desired color or shade perfect and in the time men- 
tioned. The old methodical orthodox dyers will find a 
decided advantage in being enabled to make colors in 
minutes, that heretofore required hours and days to 



11 OSTRICH FEATHER DYEING. 

complete. Technicalities and high-sounding phrases 
for the names of colors and terms of the dye-house 
have no place in this work. It is not necessary for a 
man to be a chemist to be a practical feather dyer, 
other authorities to the contrary notwithstanding. 
Good practical common sense and judgment and a 
knowledge of the nature of the goods you are handling, 
and throw theory to the winds. Alex Paul. 



TO THE 

OSTRICH FEATHER 

MANUFACTURERS, DYERS AND SCOURERS, 

AND 

INTERESTED PUBLIC OF AMERICA ANl( EUROPE, 

THIS WORK IS RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED, 

BY THE AUTHOR. 



OSTRICH FEATHER DYEING. 

TESTIMONIALS. 

The following are a few of the numerous testimonials re- 
ceived by Dr. M. Frank, Manager of * k Textile Colorist,'* in 
evidence of our method : 

Chicago, Feb. 23, 1885. 
All I have to say regarding Mr. Alex. Paul's method for 
dyeing ostrich feathers are just as he represents, and after 
having taken a course I am perfectly satisfied. 

I. F. Schwarz. 

Kiciimond, Va., Jan. 20, 1885. 
Sir, — After receiving a course of instruction of Mr. Alex. 
Paul, I think he is a thorough master of his art, and fully 
comes up his promises, and any one who wishes to learn the 
art could not do better than to engage his services. 

Jas. F. Thurstox. 

Louisville, Ky,, March 12, 1885. 
This is to certify that I have this day received instructions 
from Mr. Paul, in the art of feather dyeing, and I can truly 
say that I am much pleased with his process, so simple, so 
quickly done, and produces such beautiful colors and shades. 
I paid $150 to other parties for instruction in feather dyeing, 
and I can say that I knew but little about feather dyeing be- 
fore to-day. P. Barrister. 

Milwaukee, Feb. 27, 1885. 
We take pleasure in recommending the method of feather 
dyeing taught to us by Mr. Alex. Paul, for the sum of fifty 



ii OSTRICH FEATHER DYEING. 

dollars. We think it would be beneficial for any dyer to 
learn this art. Otto Pietsch Co. 

Rochester, Feb. 4, 1885. 
This is to certify that Mr. Paul has this day given me in- 
structions in ostrich feather dyeihg, for which I paid fifty 
dollars. I am perfectly satisfied that he lias accomplished all 
that he undertook to do to my satisfaction, and think that it 
will prove to be money well invested. Wm. Mains. 

Canton, O., Feb. 11, 1885. 
I have taken this day a course of instruction in ostrich 
feather dyeing from Mr. A. Paul, for which I paid him fifty 
dollars. The same I consider the most simple and best 
method known ; and is well worth ten times the amount. 

C. Peter & Son. 

Utica, Jan. 31, 1885. 
I have received a course of instructions from Alex. Paul, 
for which I paid him fifty dollars, and would state that I 
consider Mr. Paul a thorough master of the art of feather 
dyeing, and feel that five times the amount paid him would 
not be equivalent to the information received. 

John W. McLean. 

Milwaukee, Feb. 28, 1885. 
Mr. Alex. Paul has given me instruction for dyeing and 
cleaning ostrich feathers. I feel satisfied to certify that his 
method cannot be excelled, and that the instruction is worth 
ten times the amount charged. I. Leiser. 



OSTRICH FEATHER DYEING. Ill 

Baltimore, Jan. 14, 1885. 
Sir,— I have received through Mr. Alex. Paul of your 
method of feather dyeing, and acknowledge that your method 
is far superior to my most vivid imagination of what can be 
executed in the art of feather dyeing. I would not sell the 
information I have obtained, nor would be without it for a 
great deal more than I paid for it. E. Bauer. 

Albany, Jan. 28, 1885. 
I am glad to have had the opportunity to learn the art of 
feather dyeing as taught by Mr. Alex. Paul, and will never 
regret it. It is the easiest, most economical and the best 
method known. I paid Mr. Paul fifty dollars for his instruc- 
tion, but I would not be without it for five hundred. It is, 
without exception, the finest method extant. 

John P. Mayer. 




A, Work-bench. B, Hydro-extractor. C, C, Buckets. I), Boiler. E, Stationary 
Wash-tub. F, F, Hot-water Pipes. 



£T ") 




Curling Knife 



OSTRICH 
FEATHER DYEING. 



GROWTH OF THE OSTRICH FEATHER TRADE 

DURING THE PAST TWELVE YEARS 

IN THIS COUNTRY. 



The manufacturers of America could have been 
counted on the fingers of one's hand a dozen years ago. 
At the present time New York alone can boast of be- 
tween forty and fifty. Enterprising men in other cities 
and throughout the country are yearly becoming inter- 
ested and endeavoring to take hold of this young and 
profitable business, and we can look to ostrich feather 
manufacturing at the present time as one of our staple 
industries. The greatest disadvantage manufacturers 
have had to contend with was a lack of knowledge of 
coloring. Our greatest chemists and aniline manufac- 



2 OSTRICH FEATHER DYEING. 

turers have worked diligently, contributing largely to 
the progress of wool, cotton and silk dyeing, but the 
amount of dyestuffs used by the largest feather manu- 
facturers was of such minor importance that it did not 
seem profitable for them to investigate ; consequently 
the art of ostrich feather dyeing progressed very slowly. 
Feather dyers a dozen years ago were scarce, and the 
art (if in those days it could be called such), was con- 
trolled to a great extent by the French, who, judging 
by my experience with them, impressed me as being the 
most egotistical mortals, and decidedly orthodox in 
their methods, absolutely refusing to take hold of any- 
thing new that might prove beneficial to them, and so 
jealously did they guard their (as they considered 
them) secrets, that during working hours every one of 
them even their employers, were denied admittance to 
the dye-house. 

Millions of dollars are at the present time invested 
in ostrich feathers in all conditions, in the cases of raw 
stock in the ware-houses and in the flourishing ostrich 
farms now in existence ; and a milliner's window with- 
out its rich clusters of ostrich tips and plumes would 
to-day be a rare sight. They are used not only in the 
trimming of hats and bonnets, but fashion demands 
their use in trimming dresses, wraps, etc., and to a large 



OSTRICH FEATHER DYEING. 6 

extent they are being used in making handsome and 
very valuable fans. It is to be regretted that London 
and Paris markets are supplied with the choicest of the 
goods that come from the Cape, and America gets the 
leavings, although our market consumes equally as 
many, if not more. It is only a matter of time, how- 
ever, when manufacturers will be importing raw stock 
direct. 



THE BIRD, ITS PLUMAGE AND HABITS. 

Years ago, before the trade had begun to assume its 
present proportions, the supply of feathers came chief- 
ly from Egypt ; the bird being hunted by the natives, 
and generally killed for its plumage, which was in qual- 
ity far superior to the feathers which are to-day raised 
on farms at the Cape. The flues or fibres of the Egyp- 
tian were very close and compact and very strong in 
texture and of great durability, and having a great 
affinity for color, they were capable of standing a great 
amount of manipulation without receiving serious in- 
jury. A serious objection to them was that one-half, or 
more, were marked where the bird pecked them with his 
bill, giving them a moth-eaten appearance, and few of 
them could be used for white, as they were more or less 



4 OSTRICH FEATHER DYEING. 

stained on the ends, a dirty yellow, which soap would 
not remove and acid would only develop, there being at 
that time no known method of bleaching them, as the 
virtues of Peroxide of Hydrogen or Permanganate of 
Potash as bleaching agents were unknown to the dyers. 
Enterprising capitalists saw a profitable field for invest- 
ment in the propagation of the bird, and, as a result, 
the supply has greatly increased, and the quality of the 
plumage is far superior in every respect to the wild 
Egyptian ostrich. 

A full grown ostrich will weigh about three hundred 
pounds, and stands about seven to eight feet in height. 
In the breeding season they will travel in broods of 
from three to five in number, one of which is invariably 
a, male. The hens lay their eggs in a pit scraped out 
with their feet, the sand forming a ridge around it. 
When they have accumulated a dozen eggs or so the 
male begins to brood, always taking his place on them 
at night, surrounded by the hens, while by day they 
will relieve one another. Again, at times the hatching 
has been left entirely to the sun. North African eggs 
present a smooth surface, while those of the South are 
pitted. 

At the present time an ostrich farm is in progress in 
California ; it is as yet a very young institution, and its 



OSTRICH FEATHER DYEING. 

success is being watched with interest, but, in my 
opinion, while the bird will live and thrive, the quality 
of the plumage will be very inferior to those in their 
native clime. So much has already been written con- 
cerning the bird's powerful digestive organs, and so ex- 
aggerated that we will not try to discredit or contradict 
it. It is hardly necessary to remark that there is 
scarcely enough substance in ten-penny nails or door- 
knobs to fatten an ostrich on. 



BRIEF SKETCH OF DYESTUFFS USED BY ME 
IN MY METHOD OF DYEING. 



LOGWOOD. 



Logwood is met with in commerce in the shape of 
large blocks, averaging about four hundred pounds each 
in weight. On the surface the wood is a dirty deep 
brown red, but within, where it has not come in contact 
with the atmosphere, its color is much brighter. The 
tree is a native of South America. It has been known 
and used ever since a short period after the discovery 
of America. During the twenty-third year of the reign 
of Queen Elizabeth an act of Parliament was passed, 



6 OSTRICH FEATHER BYEING. 

forbidding its use as a dyestuff, because it did not yield 
fast colors. This act was repealed, however, by an Or- 
der in Council of Charles II., which proceeds to set 
forth that great improvements have been made as re- 
gards the obtaining of fast colors from logwood. The 
following are the chief varieties of logwood, distin- 
guished by names derived from the localities of expor- 
tation : Yucatan, Laguna, Domingo, Monte Christo, 
Fort Liberte, Jamaica, etc. 

Logwood is to day one of our most important dye- 
woods, as indeed it enters in feather dyeing into all of 
the dark or staple colors, such as black, navy blue, 
brown, green, garnet., etc. To extract the substance 
requires considerable boiling, especially if used in the 
form of chips; if it is used ground, which is by far 
preferable to chips in feather dyeing, it requires much 
less boiling to extract the substance. The dyer will 
often find logwood, that, although purchased under the 
name of a most excellent brand, will be far inferior to 
what he has been using, in which case it is well to look 
for an adulteration of some sort, which it is not at all 
easy to detect, only when it does not produce the 
desired result. 



OSTRICH FEATHER DYEING-. 



TURMERIC. 



The substance known as turmeric is the under-ground 
stem of a plant which grows in a wild state in some 
parts of China and India. It emits a strong, but 
pleasant odor, and its taste is peppery, aromatic and 
bitter at the same time. The plant, however, is culti- 
vated in Java and Bengal ; the latter country producing 
the better quality. Although turmeric is rich in color- 
ing matter, its want of permanence is a hindrance to it. 
It is generally sold in powder, ground down very fine. 
It should be quite dry ; if damp, it loses its color, turns 
a dull yellowish brown, and dyes flat shades. A good 
turmeric should show a beautiful lustre. It enters into 
a majority of the dark colors in feather dyeing, and, al- 
though used as a body for colors only, a great deal de- 
pends upon it as to the result. 



BICHROMATE OF POTASH. 

This dyestuff, known as red chrome and bichromate 
and often times simply as chrome, consists in one equiv- 
alent of potash, with two equivalents of chromic acid. 
It contains no water, and consequently cannot lose any 
weight by exposure to heat or dry air. It will not at- 
tract moisture from a damp atmosphere. It dissolves 



8 OSTRICH FEATHER DYEING. 

readily in ten times its weight of cold water, and is in- 
soluble in alcohol. It forms bright red crystals, and 
the solution is of a deep orange yellow. Bichromate of 
potash is a most powerful oxidizing agent, and pro- 
duces very complex and interesting changes in tincto- 
rial bodies. It is an intense poison. Its most exten- 
sive application is now in the production of blacks, 
along with logwood ; indeed, without its aid it would 
be next to an impossibility to produce a glossy and per- 
manent black on ostrich feathers. In giving depth of 
shade to all dark colors it is used in preference to any 
thing else, and I have never found any to contain any 
adulteration that was perceptible, or that was a hin- 
drance to its good qualities. It is used in ostrich 
feather dyeing always in a diluted form, in a very high 
temperature of water. 



ARCHIL. 



About the thirteenth century an Italian, Tederigi 
by name, during travels in the East observed the tincto- 
rial powers of a certain class of plant of low organiza- 
tion, called lichens, and introduced the color into 
Europe under the name of archil. For this discovery 
he was amply rewarded by the government, besides 



OSTRICH FEATHER DYEING. 9 

amassing a large fortune, as the supply for years came 
from Florence. At first the weeds were collected on 
the shores of various islands in the Mediterranean ; but 
on the discovery of the Canary Islands, in 1402, large 
quantities were obtained from there. Later on they 
were imported from Cape Verde ; and now they are also 
obtained from Madagascar, Zanzibar, Angelo and Lima 
and various localities in South America. 

The weed does not contain any coloring matter al- 
ready formed, but under the influence of ammonia and 
the oxygen of the atmosphere gives rise to archil. The 
manufacture of archil was for centuries carried on in 
wooden troughs. Two hundred parts lichens were 
placed in the trough together with about two hundred 
and forty parts of decomposed urine, and the mixture 
well worked every three hours for forty-eight hours. 
Five parts of slaked lime, one part of arsenious acid 
and one and one-quarter parts of alum were then added, 
and the whole well stirred and allowed to ferment. 
The stirring was repeated, from time to time, for a 
month. The contents of the trough were then removed 
to casks, and left to stand, thus improving the color. 
Archil is also one of the most important dyestuffs used 
by the feather dyer, principally entering into the com, 
position of garnet, plum, brown, etc. Contact with 



10 OSTRICH FEATHER DYEING. 

acid will destroy its coloring virtues by turning it a 
dull brown red. 



SAFRANINE. 



It is prepared by treating aniline oils successively 
with nitrous acid and arsenic acid, and one of an alka- 
line nitrate at about 212° Fah., for a short time. The 
product is extracted with boiling water, neutralized 
with an alkali filtered, and the color precipitated with 
common salt. 

Pure hydrochloride forms thin reddish crystals, 
which are soluble in water and in alcohol, yielding a 
yellowish red solution. The most characteristic reac- 
tion of safranine is that when concentrated sulphuric 
acid is gradually added to its solution, the color 
changes to violet, then to blue, dark green and light 
green. Then, on diluting the solution with water, the 
same changes of color take place, only in the reverse 
order. 

In feather dyeing safranine is used chiefly in making 
light colors of a pinkish hue ; such as pink, terra cotta, 
and to give a tint to ecru, beige and such colors. 



OSTHICII FEATHER DYEING. 11 



OXALIC ACID. 



' Oxalic acid, a most powerful acid, occurs combined 
chiefly with potash juices of plants of the genus oxahs 
and rumex. Artificially it was obtained by the action 
of nitric acid upon sugar and starch, but has been pre- 
pared latterly by treating spent dyestuffs with alkalies. 
Oxalic acid forms colorless transparent crystals, which 
are inodorous, intensely sour, and do not grow moist 
upon exposure. Should they become damp, some nitric 
or sulphuric acid, used in the preparation, has not been 
thoroughly removed. It is soluble in its own weight of 
boiling water, but requires about eight times its weight 
of water at 65° Fah. Oxalic is one of the largely used 
acids in feather dyeing, being used in a number of light 
colors for the purpose of developing the color. In de- 
veloping blues it is invaluable. Other colors it will to- 
tally destroy, violet or safranine, for example ; and it is 
used in place of sulphuric acid for the purpose of ex- 
tracting color. 



INDIGO BLUE. 



Indigo is derived from several plants of warm cli- 
mates. In the plant the color exists as a yellowish liq- 
uid ; but when extracted and exposed to the action of 



12 OSTRICH FEATHER DYEING. 

the air it becomes insoluble, and takes an intensely 
blue color. The cultivation of the plant is carried on 
chiefly in India, Java, Egypt and Louisiana. Indigo 
conies in the market in lumps, which, if of good qual- 
ity, presents a deep bluish purple color, and exhibits a 
fine reddish coppery lustre if rubbed with a hard, pol- 
ished body. If very hard or heavy, or when the color 
is very dull, blackish, greenish or brownish, the quality 
is below the standard. It is, however, of very little 
consequence in ostrich feather dyeing, and its impuri- 
ties would scarcely at any time be noticeable. It 
should, however, dilute thoroughly in boiling water, 
and if there remain a sediment of any proportion, the 
indigo is impure. Sulphuric acid is generally used to 
develop the color. 



SULPHURIC ACID. 

Sulphuric acid, commonly called oil of vitriol, a com- 
mon, yet very important, acid. Although not used to 
any great extent in ostrich feather dyeing, it occurs in 
commerce in various states and degrees of purity. It 
was at one time prepared by distilling dried copperas at 
a high temperature. It is now obtained in greater 
purity from the alkaline bisulphates. It is a clear col- 



OSTRICH FEATHER DYEING. 13 

orless oily fluid, weighing about eighteen pounds to the 
gallon. If mixed with cold water, a great increase of 
temperature takes place. It rapidly destroys organic 
bodies, depriving them of their oxygen and hydrogen, 
and leaving the carbon behind, as a blackish mass. If 
any particle of organic matter falls into a carboy of 
acid, it is decomposed, and imparts a dark color to the 
liquid. It takes up water from the air rapidly, if left 
uncorked, and thus dilutes itself. Its use in feather 
dyeing is principally to extract colors that are too 
dark. 



COPPERAS. 

Copperas is generally prepared from the soft, white 
variety of iron pyrites, frequently found to a great ex- 
tent in the coal measures. These, on exposure to air 
and moisture, decompose the latter, taking up oxygen, 
and are thus converted into sulphate of iron. Copperas 
forms pale greenish blue semi-transparent crystals, con- 
taining forty-five per cent, of water. If this be ex- 
pelled, there remains a dull whitish powder. The crys- 
tals dissolve readily in one and one-half times their 
weight of cold water, and less than half their weight of 
boiling water. The direct uses of copperas have very 
much diminished in feather dyeing; as for dyeing 



14 OSTRICH FEATHER DYELNO. 

black in conjunction with logwood it has been almost 
entirely superseded by bichromate of potash. In drabs 
and in saddening down light colors it is, to a certain ex- 
tent, still used. It is used in quantities so small, how- 
ever, that there is no serious results to be feared, as it 
must be used in quantity to injure the fibre. 



BISMARCK BROWN. 

Bismarck brown is a product that is used in feather 
dyeing to a considerable extent, chiefly in a diluted 
form. It dissolves readily in boiling water. It comes 
in the form of a powder, of a dirty black hue, and in 
liquid it is a heavy yellowish red. It makes a fast col- 
or, alkali having but little effect on it. Oxalic or sul- 
phuric acid will brighten the color, and turning it more 
on the red order. In giving a brownish hue to such 
light colors as beige, ecru, etc., it is invaluable. It is 
used by some in the topping of dark brown. It has 
such a great affinity for the fibre of feathers that it is 
very difficult to remove therefrom. 



CONCENTRATED COTTON BLUE 



This blue appears to the consumer in the form of 
crystals or coarse powder of a purplish tint. It is not 



OSTRICH FEATHER DYEING . 15 

universally used among feather dyers, although it is the 
most reliable aniline blue in use. It is used in conjunc- 
tion with oxalic acid to develop. It is fast to light, and 
possesses a great many advantages of value. It is sol- 
uble in water, either hot or cold, and is used in the pro- 
duction of the palest shades, as well as in the darkest 
navy blues. 



ROCCELINE. 

A patented product, that in feather dyeing is capa- 
ble of taking the place of all other reds. It is the only 
dyestuff that satisfactorily takes the place of extract of 
safflower, producing, with the aid of a proportion of 
oxalic acid, the most beautiful shades of scarlet and 
cardinal. It is perfectly fast to light, dissolves readily 
in boiling water, and comes to us in the form of a dull 
red powder. Its adulterations, if it contains any, have 
never interfered with" its success ; in fact, to the feather 
dyer it contains virtues too manifold and valuable to 
enumerate. 



16 OSTRICH FEATHER DYEING. 



DYEING RECIPES. 



WHITE. 

BLEACHING, OR WHAT IS COMMONLY CALLED CLEANING. 

After stringing your feathers and marking your 
tickets, prepare luke warm soap-water and wash thor- 
oughly between the hands to remove all dirt and grease. 
Rub the soap on the feathers, rinse thoroughly in luke 
warm water two or three times for the purpose of re- 
moving all particles of soap, which is very important; 
just as much so as removing the dirt. For one to one 
hundred feathers you can use a common porcelain wash 
bowl. Prepare bath bj using one gallon of clear cold 
water, add to that a small handful of starch, powdered 
or lump starch will answer. Enter feathers, rubbing 
them thoroughly between the hands to expand the flues 
and get them in condition to receive the color, so as to 
insure an even shade ; after which add about one-half 
teaspoonful of oxalic acid and a drop of diluted violet, 



OSTRICH FEATHER DYEING. 17 

just enough to give your bath a pale lavender tint. 
Enter feathers, and let remain in bath about one min- 
ute, keeping them under the surface and agitating by 
rubbing them between the hands ; after which squeeze 
feathers out of bath and dry. The quickest method for 
a few feathers is to have a small quantity of clean, pow- 
dered starch, and rub them around in it The starch 
will immediately absorb all moisture, and you have bat 
to beat it out of the flues, as it dries either on a clean 
board or between the hands. It is but the work of a few 
seconds. This method of drying insures an unsoiled 
color, as the feathers are dry a few seconds after leaving 
the bath. 

Great care should be used to bring your violet di- 
luted thoroughly, so that no particles may enter the 
bath and spot your goods. In diluting your violet use 
boiling water, and shake well in bottle, and let it stand 
for a time, when all sediment will settle at the bottom, 
and will not again mix with your color. 

It is very important to use only the amount of oxalic 
acid mentioned in recipe, as a greater quantity would 
destroy your color by turning the violet a dirty blueish 
green, and much less than the quantity mentioned 
would have a tendency to cast a lavender tint on your 
goods. Should you, by mistake or carelessness P spoil 



18 OSTRICH FEATHER DYEING. 

your white, proceed to rinse off all the starch in cold 
water first ; then in luke warm water to remove all the 
acid from feathers, and then use soap and hot water, 
and wash well, and rinse. Mix a fresh white bath as 
directed in the recipe, and proceed this time with more 
care. 



BLEACHING LIGHT COLORS WHITE. 

Old faded light colors, such as blue, pink, ecru, corn, 
drab, etc., that you are desirous of bleaching white, 
can be accomplished in the following way. Wash feath- 
ers thoroughly in warm water, using soap. Add a 
small pinch of soda, after which rinse in about three 
warm waters to insure the removal of every particle of 
soap. Dilute in clean bowl or basin one-quarter ounce 
of permanganate of potash in one gallon of boiling 
water. The water must be as hot as steam or fire can 
make it. Enter feathers, and let remain in bath about 
one minute, a few seconds more or less will do no harm, 
nor will it make any material difference in the result ; 
continually agitating in bath with clean stick, after 
which you will notice that the feathers have assumed a 
light, full brown color. Take out of the bath, but do 
not rinse them ; let the loose color drain off for a few 



OSTRICH FEATHER DYEING. 19 

seconds, meantime empty bath and rinse your bowl 
thoroughly ; then dilute half an ounce of oxalic acid or 
sulphurous acid in one gallon of boiling water. The 
water must be absolutely clean. Enter feathers, and let 
remain in until all the color has entirely disappeared, 
gently agitating while in bath. After the bath has be- 
come transparent and the feathers white, which will take 
about two minutes, empty out about two-thirds of the 
bath, and add cold water to reduce to hand heat ; then 
add a small handful of starch and a drop of diluted 
violet, and enter your feathers, and let them remain in 
about one minute, squeeze out and dry in starch. Blue 
you will generally find the hardest of all light colors to 
remove for white, the soda and permanganate seem- 
ing apparently to decompose the color. The moment it 
enters the oxalic bath, it generally, to a more or less 
extent, develops the color again. Such being the case, 
after rinsing in luke warm water to remove acid, return 
to a weak soda bath for a minute, and then rinse and 
return to permanganate bath, rather weaker than the 
first one ; in other words, repeat the first operation all 
through, only in weaker solutions. 

This process can be used successfully in bleaching 
all light colors white. In bleaching natural blacks, 
however, it would not be practicable. A recipe for 



20 OSTRICH FEATHER DYEING. 

bleaching natural black will be found in another portion 
of the book. 



LIGHT PINK. 

White feathers are generally used for this color, but 
all light colors can be made a beautiful shade of pink 
by first bleaching with permanganate of potash. After 
washing and rinsing thoroughly in luke warm water, 
soap to remove all loose dirt and grease, or bleaching, 
if required. Prepare bath as follows : Take one gallon 
of luke warm water, more or less, according to the 
quantity of feathers you have to dye add a small hand- 
ful of starch. Enter your feathers and rub around be- 
tween the hands thoroughly to open the flues so as to in- 
sure an even shade ; add a couple of drops of diluted 
safranine to bath. Enter feathers, and let them remain 
in the bath about one minute, or until feathers look 
about two shades darker than sample ; gently stirring 
them around in bath meanwhile, and keeping them un- 
der the surface. Remove from bath, squeeze and dry 
in the usual way, rubbing them in dry powdered starch, 
and beat them out on a clean board or between the 
hands to remove all particles which might adhere. 
Should your sample that you have to match be a little 



OSTRICH FEATHEK D EING, 



20a 



WHITE- -page 16. 



J IT, AC- pagi 56. ^ 






1 
LIGHT PINK— page 20. 


jl 
| 

LEMON— page 52. 





OSTRICH FEATHER DYEING. 21 

on the yellowish order, a drop of diluted Bismarck 
brown added to bath will bring the desired shade ; or if 
a very brilliant shade or rose pink, a drop of diluted 
violet added to the bath and increase temperature ; a 
little judgment is always necessary ; as, for example, 
should you require a dark shade, you would naturally 
let your goods remain longer in the bath than the time 
specified in recipe, or add a little more color, and if 
a very pale pink is wanted, less time and color should 
be used. Should you, at any time, find your color, 
after being dried, a couple of shades darker than your 
sample, rinse goods in luke warm water, and enter 
feathers, pass through for a minute, and dry. 



LIGHT BLUE. 

All other faded out light colors can be made into a 
delicate shade of sky blue by first bleaching with per- 
manganate of potash process for the purpose of remov- 
ing colors. White feathers that are only dirty and 
greasy must be thoroughly washed and rinsed in luke 
warm water, after which prepare bath as follows : For 
one gallon of luke warm water, more or less, according 
to the amount of feathers to be dyed, add a small 
handful of clean starch ; enter your feather and rub 



22 OSTRICH FEATHER DYEING. 

them around in bath for a second between the hands to 
open the flues, to admit color evenly ; add about one 
teaspoonful of oxalic acid, enter feathers and let remain 
in bath a few seconds longer; then remove feathers 
from bath, and add a couple of drops of concentrated 
cotton blue diluted ; re-enter feathers and let them re- 
main in about half a minute ; increase temperature of 
your bath a few degrees by adding some hot water ; 
take feathers out of bath and add thereto a drop of 
diluted indigo blue ; re-enter, and keep them well under 
the surface of bath to give them an even color, and al- 
low to remain in about thirty seconds longer. Take 
them out of bath, squeeze out and dry, either in pow- 
dered starch cr by beating on a clean board or table. 
Under no circumstances allow feathers to hang wet and 
motionless on line during process of drying without 
beating the starch out. The result of so doing would 
cause the feathers to look thin, shriveled, and injure the 
color and quality of goods. The same care should be 
observed not alone in this, but in all colors. 

In light blues your bath should look abput two 
shades darker than the sample to be matched. Where 
a darker shade is required, more color can be added ; 
and, through carelessness or negligence, should you 
allow your color to become too dark, rinse off 3^our 



OSTRICH FEATHER DYEING. 23 

feathers in cold water first to remove the starch, and 
then in luke warm water a couple of times to draw off 
all acid, and pass feathers a few seconds through a bath 
of luke warm water with a small pinch of soda in it, 
which will have the effect of drawing off all surplus 
color ; after which rinse in luke warm water, and mix a 
fresh bath of luke warm water and starch and one-half 
a teaspoonful of oxalic acid ; enter your feathers and 
carefully add color until you have obtained the desired 
shade. 



ECRU. 



All old colors, excepting dark brown, bottle green, 
navy blue, black 3 garnet, etc., can be dyed a good shade 
of ecru. Begin an old color by passing them through 
a solution of hot water, about one ounce of soda to a 
gallon of water, for about 30 seconds ; after which take 
them out and rinse by passing them through clean boil- 
ing water, which will draw off more color than it would 
seem possible the feathers could contain. If all the 
old color, or enough of it, be not removed, put feathers 
through the permanganate of potash process. For 
dirty white feathers simply wash them thoroughly with 
soap and hot water, and rinse well ; then prepare your 



24 OSTRICH FEATHER DYEING. 

bath as follows : One gallon of hand warm water, add 
a small handful of starch, and enter feathers, rubbing 
them around thoroughly, and getting the starch rubbed 
into the flues ; then add to bath a small quantity of 
copperas, about the size of a bean, and re-enter your 
feathers and let remain in bath about one minute or 
less ; after which add a few drops of logwood liquor 
and about a teaspoonful of diluted aniline brown, first 
removing feathers from bath ; enter feathers and let re- 
main in bath about one minute, being careful to keep 
them moving in bath. If found a little too brown to 
match your sample, a small pinch of turmeric added to 
bath will reduce the shade. If they are found a little 
too yellow for sample, a drop of diluted violet will 
answer. 

If the dyer, through his own carelessness, should 
allow his color to get too dark, proceed to extract color 
as follows: dilute in about one gallon of luke warm 
water one-half teaspoonful of oxalic acid. Enter feath- 
ers, first rinsing off starch in cold water; let them re- 
main in about half a minute, and rinse off about three 
times in hot water to remove acid. The acid will turn 
the feathers a bright yellow, and after rinsing off well 
the yellow color will have entirely disappeared, and the 
feathers a light shade of dust. Prepare a fresh bath as 



OSTRICH FEATHER DYEING. 25 

per recipe, and, using more care, enter feathers and pass 
through until you have acquired the desired shade. 

In the first bath, should a very dark shade be re- 
quired, add a little more logwood and copperas than 
directed in the recipe, and if a very light color, a little 
less. 



CREAM COLOR. 

There are numerous methods of producing this most 
beautiful, yet simple, shade. Any yellow substance in 
conjunction with oxalic acid can be used with more or 
less fair success. A great many dyers use a few 
drops of diluted logwood, developed with the aid of 
oxalic acid. The color this produces is very satisfac- 
tory when finished, but no sooner is it exposed to 
strong light than the color becomes a dirty drab shade, 
caused by the acid leaving the feathers, the logwood be- 
coming oxidized. 

The best and most permanent shade of cream color 
is obtained in the following manner : Thoroughly wash 
and rinse your feathers to remove every particle of dirt, 
for it is as necessary to have the feathers clean as if 
they were for a white, and if they are very dirty or old 
faded out colors, put them through the permanganate 



26 OSTRICH FEATHER DYEING. 

of potash process, and then remove all color. Prepare 
bath of one gallon of luke warm water and a small 
handful of starch; enter feathers arid rub around in 
bath between the hands ; meantime dilute in about one 
pint of boiling water a small five-cent package of es- 
sence of coffee (commonly called chicory), and boil for 
a few minutes ; then add a few drops of the liquid to 
the bath, and add thereto a teaspoonful of oxalic acid. 
Re-enter feathers and let remain in bath about one min- 
ute, constantly moving them around ; after which 
squeeze them out and dry, either in starch or on a clean 
board. 

The result will be a rich and permanent cream. 
Should a pink or brownish tint be required to match 
sample, a drop of Bismarck brown added to bath will 
produce the desired result ; or if wanted a little more 
yellow, a few grains of turmeric added to the bath will 
answer. 



SILVER GRAY. 

A very delicate color, requiring feathers almost a 
pure white to make a clear shade. After thoroughly 
washing and rinsing, or bleaching if required, with per- 
manganate of potash, prepare a bath of one gallon of 



*TRI H FEATHER DYEING 




OSTRICH FEATHER DYEING. 27 

Iuke warm water, and add a small handful of starch. 
Enter feathers and manipulate between the hands; 
then add to bath a small piece of copperas, about the 
size of a pea, and a few drops of diluted logwood liq- 
uor ; reenter feathers and let remain in bath until in 
appearances they are two or three shades darker 
than sample ; then add to bath a couple of drops of 
diluted violet, first removing feathers from bath ; let 
them remain in a few seconds longer, and squeeze out 
and dry in the usual way. The violet gives your feath- 
ers the brilliant shade that is so desirable in silver 
grays. 

Be careful in drying them not to use starch that has 
been previously used in drying feathers that have been 
dyed in acid baths, as it would be liable to spot your 
color. Should you, through carelessness or otherwise, 
allow your color to get darker than shade desired, rinse 
feathers off a couple of times in cold water to remove 
starch; then dilute half a teaspoon ful of oxalic acid in 
a gallon of hot water, and pass feathers through it for 
a few seconds, and then rinse off twice in boiling water. 
After which prepare a bath same as per recipe, using 
more care, and pass feathers through until you have ob- 
tained the desired shade. 



28 / OSTRICH FEATHER DYEING. 

BISMARCK BROWN. 

Wash and rinse your feathers, after which prepare a 
bath of one gallon of boiling water and about one 
ounce of turmeric and half an ounce of copperas ; en- 
ter your feathers and let them remain in bath about two 
minutes, more or less, after which take out and rinse 
twice in cold water. Meantime have boiling a bath of 
half a pound of logwood to a gallon of water, and en- 
ter feathers at boiling temperature, letting them remain 
in about ten seconds or longer. Should a darker shade 
be desired, take out and rinse in cold water, after which 
dilute a half teaspoonful of aniline brown in a gallon of 
boiling water. Reduce temperature a little with cold 
water. Enter feathers and let them remain in about 
three minutes ; then cool off a small portion of the 
bath, and add a small handful of starch, pass feathers 
through and dry. 

If a lighter shade is wanted, add a drop of sul- 
phuric acid to the starch bath and pass feathers 
through. If the sample to match be more on the yel- 
low order, about twice the amount of turmeric in the 
first bath ; and if desired more on the red, use no tur- 
meric, only copperas, in the first bath. If a darker 
shade is wanted, let them remain a longer time than 



OSTRICH FEATHER DYEIXG. 29 

that specified in the logwood bath. Any light color 
can be used to make a Bismarck brown ; but if very 
dark colors are used, it is well to draw off some of the 
color, doing it in the usual way. 



SEAL BROWN. 

For seal brown it is not necessary to wash your 
feathers, nor to bleach off any color. Any old colors, 
excepting black, can be made a good shade of seal 
brown. Begin in bath by diluting about two ounces of 
turmeric in a gallon of boiling water (more or less mat- 
ters not). Enter your feathers and keep them well un- 
der the surface of the bath about two or three minutes ; 
after which take out and rinse in cold water twice. In 
the meantime boiling a bath of logwood about one 
pound to a gallon of water. If boiled on fire about 
fifteen minutes is necessary, and if boiled with steam a 
half hour is required. Enter feathers in logwood and 
let remain in about three minutes, keeping them well 
under the surface of bath, after which take out and 
rinse ; if in cold water about twice, then dilute a half 
an ounce of bichromate of potash in a gallon of boiling 
water, and see that bichromate is thoroughly dissolved. 
Enter feathers and let them remain in about ten seconds, 



30 OSTRICH FEATHER DYEING. 

a longer time if a xery dark shade is wanted ; then take 
them out and rinse thoroughly m cold water ; after 
which add to jour logwood bath about one tablespoon- 
ful of extract of archil ; bring bath to a boil and enter 
your feathers ; cover up bath and let them remain in 
about four minutes ; a little more or less time, in this 
bath is of no material difference in color, only to make 
the shade heavier or lighter. Take your feathers out of 
bath and rinse in cold water ; mix a small handful of 
starch in about a quart of cold water, and pass feathers 
through and dry in the usual way. 

If your color be darker than the shade you desire, 
add a drop or two of sulphuric acid to starch bath, and 
pass your feathers through for a few seconds. If found 
to be lighter than the shade you desire, rinse off the 
starch from your feathers in cold water ; then dilute a 
quarter of an ounce of bichromate of potash in a gallon 
of boiling water, and pass your feathers through ; after 
which rinse, starch and dry. 

Another excellent method for quick seal brown is as 
follows : dilute two ounces of turmeric and half an 
ounce of copperas in one gallon of boiling water, and let 
them remain in about two minutes ; take out and rinse, 
then enter in a strong bath of logwood at boiling, and 
keep under surface about three minutes ; after which 



OSTKIC T VEATHUVi DYEING. 



30a 



-FOAMf-pa&e 70, 



SII ER GRAY- ; >age 26. 



ECRU— page 23. 



TRILEUL— page 58. 



OSTRICH FEATHER DYEING. 31 

rinse 5 then mix a bath of a quarter to a half teaspoon- 
fill of aniline brown in a gallon of boiling water. En- 
ter your feathers and let them remain in bath about 
three minutes ; take out, rinse, starch and dry. If re- 
quired darker, re-enter into logwood bath for a few sec- 
onds. If wanted lighter, add a drop or two of sulphuric 
acid in your starch bath, squeeze out and dry in the 
usual way. 



NAVY BLUB. 

All light colored feathers can be used for navy blue 
without first either washing or bleaching out any of the 
color. But if your feathers be very dirty or greasy, 
especially the latter, wash them well in warm soap 
water and rinse. Prepare bath by diluting about one 
teaspoonful of concentrated cotton blue in one gallon of 
boiling water ; add about a teaspoonful of oxalic acid. 
Stir around well to thoroughly dissolve aniline ; then 
enter your feathers, and raise temperature of your bath 
to boiling. Let feathers remain in about three min- 
utes ; a minute more will not do any harm, only have a 
tendency to make your color a little richer ; after which 
take feathers out of bath and rinse thoroughly in cold 
water for the purpose of removing all loose particles 



32 OSTRICH FEATHER DYEING. 

of color and the acid ; having boiling meantime a bath 
of logwood of medium strength; enter feathers, letting 
them remain therein about one-half a minute ; take out 
and rinse in cold water ; dilute about half an ounce of 
bichromate of potash in a gallon of boiling water ; 
enter feathers, let them remain in about half a minute, 
and stir them around well in bath ; after which take 
them out and rinse in cold water and starch and dry. 
Should you desire a darker shade, rinse off starch, and 
return to logwood bath for a few seconds, rinse off and 
repeat bichromate of potash bath; then rinse, starch 
and dry. In this way, by repeating the logwood and 
bichromate of potash, you can darken your color down 
almost to a black. 

Should you get your color darker than your sample 
to be matched, rinse off starch in clear cold water, and 
dilute a teaspoon ful of oxalic acid in a gallon of hot 
water almost boiling and enter feathers, passing them 
through about a half minute ; after which take out and 
pass through a basin of boiling water a few seconds. 
This will draw off the surplus of logwood and chrome, 
and then mix a starch bath luke warm ; add thereto a 
half teaspoonful of oxalic acid for the purpose of 
bringing up the blue. This process will reduce your 
color three or four shades ; then pass feathers and dry. 



OSTRICH FEATHER DYEING. 33 

This process of dyeing navy blue produces a rich, 
even shade that is perfectly fast to light and alkali, and 
with the smallest degree of judgment by the dyer it is 
impossible to have a failure. 



CARDINAL. 

Years ago the most successful shades of cardinal 
were produced by taking about equal parts of turmeric 
and oxalic acid and diluting in boiling water, entering 
feathers in same for a while ; then adding thereto about 
half a cupful of extract of safflower and about the same 
amount of extract of archil, letting them remain in 
until the bath was cold. Not a bad recipe, but very 
expensive. 

Prepare your feathers by washing and rinsing thor- 
ough^, after which take about one gallon of boiling 
water, and add to it about one teaspoonful of oxalic 
acid, and enter feathers for a few seconds. Take out 
and add to bath a teaspoonful of rocceline powder, 
thoroughly dissolved, and re-enter feathers ; raise tem- 
perature of bath to boiling, either with steam or fire, 
and let feathers remain in about four minutes. If quite 
a dark shade of cardinal be required, add to bath about 
a tablespoonful of extract of archil and let remain in a 



34 OSTRICH FEATHER DYEING. 

little longer, or a few drops of diluted violet in bath 
will answer instead. Then empty out all but a small 
quantity of your bath and cool off with cold water, and 
add a small handful of starch. Pass feathers through, 
squeeze out and dry. The result is a most beautiful 
shade of cardinal. This color is perfectly fast to light. 
If your shade to match should happen to be slightly on 
the yellowish order, a few drops of diluted aniline 
brown added to bath with rocceline will produce the 
yellowish tint. It is hardly possible to spoil this color, 
except by the extravagant use of one of the ingre- 
dients. 



CRUSHED STRAWBERRY. 

Prepare feathers by washing and rinsing thoroughly 
in luke warm water; or if old, dark, faded out colors, 
pass them through bleaching process of permanganate 
of potash ; afterwards being careful to rinse all the acid 
out before entering bath. Prepare bath by diluting a 
small handful of starch in about a gallon of luke warm 
water, enter feathers and manipulate thoroughly be- 
tween the hands for a few seconds ; take out, and add 
to bath a few drops of diluted safranine ; re-enter 
feathers and let remain in bath about one minute, or 



TRICH FEATHER DYEING. 



34a 




OSTRICH FEATHER DYEING. 35 

until they have assumed a dark shade of pink ; then add 
to bath a few drops of diluted aniline brown and a 
small pinch of copperas, and enter feathers, letting 
them remain a minute longer. Take feathers out, and 
dry in the usual way. 

If a very dark shade is wanted, a few drops of di- 
luted logwood added to bath at the time you add the 
copperas will have the desired effect ; or a few drops of 
violet will answer in its stead. Should you find your 
color too much on the drab, a few drops of safranine 
added to bath will have the desired effect. Should you 
find that your color is entirely too dark fur your sam- 
ple, rinse off the starch in cold water ; pass feathers 
through a solution of a half teaspoon ful of oxalic acid 
in a gallon of hot water for a few seconds ; then rinse 
in hot water twice to remove the acid, alter which pre- 
pare a fresh bath as per recipe, using more care, and 
keep in until desired result is obtained. 



PLUM. 



Feathers that are any color excepting dark green or 
black can be dyed a beautiful shade of plum. Wash 
and rinse your goods, and prepare your bath as follows : 
one pound of logwood to a gallon or more of water, and 



36 OSTRICH FEATHER DYEING. 

boil fifteen minutes or longer j then add to bath about a 
quarter pound, of extract of archil, and enter your 
feathers, letting them remain in bath about five minutes, 
after which take them out and rinse in cold water. 
Prepare a bath of half an ounce of bichromate of pot- 
ash in a gallon of boiling water, more or less, and see 
that it is thoroughly dissolved ; pass feathers through 
about ten seconds ; then take them out and rinse twice 
in clear cold water; then dilute a small handful of 
starch in a half gallon of luke warm water, and add to 
it about half an ounce of soda ; pass feathers through 
for about half a minute and dry. 

Should color be found too light for sample, rinse off 
starch in cold water, and repeat bichromate of potash 
bath ; rinse, starch and dry. An old logwood bath that 
has been used for other colors will answer for plum, and 
save boiling up a fresh bath. 



OLIVE. 



If your feathers to be dyed are very dark colors, 
such as brown, navy blue, green, garnet, etc., draw off 
some of the color by passing through a solution of boil- 
ing water and half an ounce of soda', and rinse in boil- 
ing water twice. Prepare bath by diluting two ounces 



OSTRICH FEATHER DYEING. 37 

of turmeric in about one gallon of water. Enter feath- 
ers and let them remain in about two minutes, — a longer 
time will not hurt ; after w T hich take them out and rinse 
in cold water twice. Have a medium strong bath of 
loo wood boiling meantime, and enter your feathers, let- 
ting them remain in about two minutes ; then take them 
out and rinse in cold water. Prepare a bath of one 
gallon of boiling water and half an ounce of bichromate 
of potash, and after it is thoroughly dissolved, enter 
your feathers and let them remain in about one minute, 
longer if a very dark shade be required. Take out and 
rinse, after which your feathers will have assumed a 
dark, dull olive, looking not unlike a faded out black. 
Next prepare a bath of two ounces of turmeric with 
about one gallon of boiling water a and add thereto a 
small pinch of green aniline, just enough to give your 
bath the appearance of being a couple of shades more 
on the green than the sample to be matched. Enter 
your feathers and let them remain in about three min- 
utes ; first, however, bringing your bath to a boil, after 
which take feathers out and rinse, starch and dry. 

If feathers be found darker than sample to be 
matched, a few drops of diluted oxalic acid in your 
starch bath will bring the shade down ; and if found 
lighter than sample, rinse the starch off thoroughly in 



38 OSTRICH FEATHER DYEING. 

cold water, and dilute a quarter ounce of bichromate of 
potash in a gallon of boiling water, and pass your feath- 
ers through for a few seconds. If wanted a very dark 
shade, they should, after having the starch rinsed off, be 
returned to the logwood bath, then rinsed and give the 
bichromate of potash bath as above. If found a little 
too much on the green for sample, a weak bath of tur- 
meric, similar to the first bath of the operation will 
have the desired effect. There are also some shades of 
olive where it will not be found necessary to use any 
green at all; that is when the shade approaches t~e 
brown on the olive. 



LAVENDER. 

Feathers for lavender must be white, or nearly so, if 
you desire a good clear shade. All light colors can be 
used by first bleaching with permanganate of potash, or 
if only dirty white feathers, wash and rinse them thor- 
oughly. Prepare bath of luke warm water and a small 
handful of starch, rub feathers around between the 
hands to expand the fibres ; then add to bath a few- 
drops of diluted violet. Enter your feathers and let 
remain about one minute in bath, keeping them mean- 
while in motion ; take out your feathers and add to 



OSTRICH FEATHER DYEING. 39 

bath a drop of diluted safranine ; reenter and raise 
temperature of bath a few degrees by addition of hot 
water ; let your feathers remain about half a minute 
in bath ; if wanted darker, add a few drops of diluted 
violet, and if lighter, less ; after which take out your 
feathers and dry them in the usual way, being careful 
to use clean starch for drying. To use starch that had 
previously been used to dry light colors that contained 
acid, would most likely result in spotting your color, 
as the application of acid to any portion of the delicate 
color would turn it a greenish blue. If your color be 
found too dark for sample, you can either wash in a so- 
lution of soap water, or else pass feathers through a 
bath of a teaspoonful of oxalic acid to a gallon of luke 
warm water, after which rinse off well and put through 
fresh bath as per recipe. 



OLD GOLD. 

All light colors, such as light blues, pinks, drabs, 
yellows, etc., that you are desirous of making old gold 
need but to be washed with soap and hot water prior to 
entering in bath. Prepare your bath with two ounces 
of turmeric and one gallon of boiling water, more or 
less matters not. Enter your feathers, and let them re- 



40 OSTRICH FEATHER DYEING. 

main in bath about two minutes, after which add a small 
pinch of copperas, about the size of a bean. Let your 
feathers remain in bath about one minute longer, after 
which take feathers from bath and add thereto a few 
drops of diluted Bismarck brown ; let them remain in 
bath about one minute longer; take them out, coo) off 
a small portion of the bath with cold water, add a small 
handful of starch, pass your feathers through and dry. 
If wanted a very dark shade of gold, a few drops of 
diluted logwood added to bath will have the desired 
effect ; and if wanted lighter, a smaller quantity of cop- 
peras in bath. 

If the shade be found entirely too dark for sample, 
a solution of oxalic acid in luke warm water will draw 
off a portion of the color and brighten what is left. If 
wanted a very yellowish shade of gold, use more tur- 
meric, less copperas and no logwood, and be particular 
to have your bath at all times at a boiling tempera- 
ture. 



GARNET. 



It is noWnecessary to wash your feathers, except 
they are very dirty and greasy. As a rule all old col- 
ors, excepting greens, navy blues or blacks, can be used 
for this color without bleaching. Prepare bath by boil- 




SLATE— page 47. 



GENDARME BLUE— page 57. 



FEET DRAB— page 46. 




GARNET— page 40. 



OSTHICH FEATHER DYEING. 41 

ing about one pound of logwood to a gallon of water or 
more about fifteen minutes ; strain off liquor from 
wood; add about two tablespoon fills of extract of ar- 
chil, and bring again to a boil. Enter your feathers 
and let them remain in bath about four or five minutes, 
after which take feathers from bath, rinse twice in clean 
cold water, and dilute a small handful of starch in a 
little clear cold water ; pass feathers through and dry 
in the usual way. Should your color be found too dark 
for sample to be matched, dilute a couple of drops of 
sulphuric acid in your starch bath, and pass feathers 
through for a few seconds ; first, however, adding a lit- 
tle hot water to increase temperature. 

If found lighter than the desired shade, rinse your 
feathers thoroughly in cold water and dilute half an 
ounce of bichromate of potash in about one gallon of 
boiling water ; pass your feathers through for a few sec- 
onds, rinse thoroughly and dry. Great care is neces- 
sary in passing feathers through this chrome bath, as 
the color will oxidize very rapidly. 

If your sample to match be more on the brown 
shade, a very little archil, not more than one-half the 
prescribed quantity must be used ; and if more on the 
purple or plum, add more archil than the quantity 
specified. 



42 OSTRICH FEATHER DYEING. 

In preparing bath, when you have added the archil, 
be careful in bringing it to boiling temperature that you 
do not allow it to boil any time, as that would have a 
tendency to dull your color. By keeping this bath 
clean it can be used several times, in fact, it improves 
with age; and, if kept in a crock, so that it will not 
come in contact with any metallic substance, and when 
needed just brought to boiling temperature; and if 
needed, a teaspoonful of archil added to it will produce 
very beautiful shades of garnet. 

This bath can be used to make your plum colors ; 
and if you have an old bath of logwood on hand it is 
not necessary to boil a fresh one, simply add the archil, 
and bring to a boil. 



TERRA COTTA. 

If white feathers, wash and rinse them thoroughly 
with hot water, and if faded out light colors, extract 
color by bleaching with permanganate of potash in the 
usual way ; being careful to rinse well in hot water to 
remove all the acid used in bleaching before entering 
bath. Prepare bath as follows : about a gallon of luke 
warm water, and add a small handful of starch. Enter 
feathers, rub around in bath between the hands, take 



OSTRICH FEATHER DYEING. 43 

out and add a few drops of diluted safranine, and cop- 
peras about the size of a pea. Enter feathers and let 
remain in bath about one minute ; take out and add 
about half a teaspoonful of diluted aniline brown ; re- 
enter feathers and let them remain in about half a min- 
ute longer ; after which dry in the usual way. If found 
too pink for sample, add a few drops more aniline 
brown, and return to bath for a few seconds. If found 
too yellow, add a few drops more of diluted safranine, 
and keep in bath a few seconds longer; if wanted 
darker, add a little more of each color, and keep in bath 
longer. 



BOTTLE GREEN. 

After washing and rinsing feathers thoroughly, — if 
dirty or greasy, extracting color if necessary, — prepare 
bath as follows : One ounce of turmeric diluted in one 
gallon of boiling water ; enter your feathers and let re- 
main in about one minute, after which take out and 
rinse thoroughly. Prepare a weak bath of logwood, 
about half a pound to the gallon of water, or about half 
the usual strength of an ordinary logwood bath for 
black ; boil a few minutes, after which enter your feath- 
ers and let them remain in bath about one minute ; then 



44 OSTRICH FEATHER DYEING. 

take out and rinse thoroughly in cold water ; after 
which prepare a bath of half an ounce of bichromate of 
potash to one gallon of boiling water. Dissolve bi- 
chromate of potash, enter feathers and let them remain 
in about half a minute ; a little longer if a very dark 
shade be required, and so much less time if a very light 
shade is required ; after which take feathers out and 
rinse thoroughly in cold water. Dilute about one-half a 
teaspoonful of aniline green in a gallon of boiling water, 
and reduce temperature of bath a few degrees with cold 
water ; then enter feathers and let them remain in bath 
about two or three minutes ; remove feathers and cool 
off a small portion of the bath with cold water, and add 
to it a small handful of starch ; pass your feathers 
through the bath, squeeze out and dry off in the usual 
way. 

If found to be lighter than shade desired, rinse off 
starch thoroughly, and return for a few seconds to log- 
wood bath without increasing temperature any ; then 
rinse off in cold water, and pass through a weak solu- 
tion of bichromate of potash, about one-quarter ounce 
to a gallon ; after which rinse, starch and dry. 

If found darker than shada desired, pass feathers 
through a solution of half a teaspoonful of oxalic acid 
in about one gallon of luke warm water for about thirty 



OSTRICH FEATHEB DYEING. 45 

seconds ; take them out of this and rinse twice through 
boiling water, and then give a weak bath of aniline 
green,— about half the strength of the first bath If 
samples to be matched be more on the yellow or olive, 
use decidedly more turmeric in the first bath, and add 
a little, say about a teaspoonful, to the aniline green 
bath. If a green on the blue, it will be necessary to 
use only one-half the turmeric prescribed in the first 
bath. 



STEEL COLOR. 

All light colors can be used to make a good shade of 
steel by first extracting colors by the usual process of 
bleaching with permanganate of potash ; if white and 
dirty, wash thoroughly in hot water and soap and rinse. 
Prepare your bath as follows : To one gallon of luke 
warm water add a small handful of starch ; enter your 
feathers, rub them around well in bath ; after which add 
a small pinch of copperas and about a tablespoonful of 
logwood liquor, and let remain in about one minute ; in- 
crease temperature of bath and add a few drops of di- 
luted violet, first removing your feathers from bath ; re- 
enter feathers and let remain about one minute, or until 
your feathers look about four shades darker than sam- 
ple ; after which take out and dry. 



46 OSTRICH FEATHER DYEING. 

If found too light, return to bath and add more log- 
wood liquor and a lew drops more violet, and should 
you find them altogether too dark for sample, extract 
jour color by passing them through a solution of one 
teaspoonful of oxalic acid in a gallon of hot water; 
after which rinse them off by passing them through a 
gallon of boiling water about twice, when you will find 
your color reduced four or five shades. The oxalic acid 
renders the feathers a bright yellow. 

Boiling water will draw off the logwood and bring 
out your shade of drab in as much milder form ; then 
proceed to mix a new drab bath the same as per recipe, 
only using more caution not to get it too dark; enter 
feathers, bring to shade, using a drop of violet to 
brighten up color. Be careful in drying not to use 
starch that has previously been used on a color where 
acid was used to develop. 



FELT DRAB. 

Prepare feathers by washing and rinsing thoroughly, 
or bleaching if needed; after which mix a bath of luke 
warm water and starch. Enter feathers and manipulate 
in bath a few seconds between the hands ; after which 
add a small quantity of copperas, about the size of a 



OSTRICH FEATHER DYEING. 47 

pea. Enter feathers and let them remain in about half 
a minute ; take out feathers and add a few drops of log- 
wood liquor ; re-enter feathers and let them remain in 
about half a minute ; add to bath about a drop of di- 
luted safranine, and if shade be wanted a little on the 
yellow, a drop of diluted Bismarck brown can be added. 
Allow feathers to remain in until they look about three 
shades darker than sample ; then take out and dry as 
usual. If found either too dark or too light, treat pre- 
cisely as preceding color (steel). Be careful not to use 
starch that has been used for an acid color. 



SLATE COLOR. 

To make this color all light colors can be used and 
some dark ones, only those, however, that do not con- 
tain much yellow, as, for example, blues, reds, etc. 
After preparing for bath by washing and rinsing, or by 
extracting color if necessary, mix a bath of logwood, 
about half the usual strength, and enter feathers. Bath 
must be at boiling temperature, and let them remain in 
about one minute ; after which take out and rinse. 
Proceed to mix a bath of one quarter ounce of copperas 
and one gallon of boiling water ; enter feathers and let 
them remain in bath about halt a minute ; take out and 



48 OSTRICH FEATHER DYEING. 

cool off a small portion of the bath, add starch and pass 
feathers through, squeeze out and dry. 

If the color to be matched be very dark, repeat the 
bath of logwood and mix a bath of one-quarter ounce 
of bichromate of potash in a gallon of boiling water. 
Enter feathers and let remain in about half a minute ; 
after which rinse off in cold water, and starch and dry. 
If a very brilliant shade be required, when you have 
rinsed feathers from bichromate of potash bath, wash 
thoroughly in soap-suds and rinse in luke warm water. 
Dilute a small quantity of starch in cold water, pass 
feathers through and dry. The above recipe produces 
a most beautiful shade of slate color, perfectly fast to 
light, and the depth of shade is regulated by the quan- 
tity of logwood. Should you find your color altogether 
too dark for sample, proceed to extract by passing 
through a solution of one teaspoonful of oxalic acid to 
one gallon of boiling water for about half a minute, and 
then rinsing off twice or three times in boiling water ; 
after which repeat in a milder form. 



ORANGE COLOR. 

Prepare feathers by washing and rinsing thoroughly. 
Prepare bath by diluting about two ounces of turmeric 



OSTRICH FEATHER DYEING. 49 

in a gallon of boiling water, and enter your feathers, 
letting them remain in bath about two minutes ; then 
take them out and add a few drops of diluted Bismarck 
brown and about a teaspoon ful of oxalic acid ; re-enter 
your feathers and bring bath to a boil, and let remain in 
about three minutes ; after which take out, and cool off 
a small quantity of bath, add a small handful of starch, 
pass feathers through and dry. 

Should you desire a very full dark shade, use about 
twice the amount of turmeric, add a few drops more 
Bismarck brown ; and if wanted much lighter, use less 
of each color. If wanted more 3^ellow, use very small 
quantity of Bismarck brown; and if a very reddish 
shade of orange, a little more Bismarck brown than 
amount prescribed in recipe. 

There are numerous orange anilines in the market 
that are used successfully in dyeing shades of orange, 
but it is almost necessary to have a different shade of 
aniline for every shade of color made. Should your 
sample to be matched be rather dull, use no oxalic acid 
in bath, as the oxalic acid is used in developing and' 
brightening the shade. To remove the color, should it 
be too dark, the first method is to wash well in soap 
water, rinse and pass through a solution of oxalic acid 
in warm water, about half an ounce to the gallon. 



50 OSTRICH FEATHER DYEING. 

SCARLET. 

Wash and rinse your feathers thoroughly, and if re- 
quired to remove a surplus of any old color, pass 
through a bath of permanganate of potash, as per 
recipe ; after which prepare a bath of half a teaspoonful 
of oxalic acid to one gallon of boiling water and about 
a teaspoonful of turmeric ; enter feathers and let them 
remain in bath about halt a minute, after which take 
them out and add to bath about half a teaspoonful of 
rocceline ; dissolve powder thoroughly, and return to 
bath ; let them remain in about one minute longer, then 
cool off a small quantity of the bath and add a small 
handful of starch ; pass your feathers through, squeeze 
out and dry as usual. 

If wanted a very dark shade, add a little more roc- 
celine and let remain longer in bath. If shade be a 
little on the orange, use more turmeric and less roccel- 
ine ; and if more on the cardinal, vice versa. Should 
you, through carelessness, get your color too dark, to 
remove color rinse off and wash thoroughly in a soap 
bath, and rinse off in boiling water about twice, which 
will have the effect of reducing the color several shades ; 
mix a new bath as per recipe, and enter feathers, using 
more care and judgment and proceed to starch and dry 
as called for in recipe. 



OSTRICH FEATHER DYEING. 51 

MAROON. 

Almost any odd shades of color can be used without 
extracting colors, but if dirty or greasy, it is always 
best to wash thoroughly and rinse. Take your old log- 
wood bath that has been used for black and other col- 
ors, or else boil a fresh bath of the same proportions, 
about a pound to the gallon. When at boiling temper- 
ature add thereto a half cupful of extract of archil, first 
removing the grounds of logwood from the bath ; then 
enter your feathers and let them remain in tbe bath 
about four or five minutes ; take them out and rinse 
thoroughly in cold water, and prepare a bath of one- 
half ounce of bichromate of potash to a gallon of boil- 
ing water, and thoroughly dissolve potash ; after which 
pass your goods through for a few seconds only, and 
take out and rinse twice in cold water ; dilute a small 
handful of starch in clean cold water, pass feathers 
through and dry. 

Should a very dark shade be required, allow your 
feathers to remain in bichromate of potash bath a few 
seconds longer ; take out and dry. Should you find 
your color too dark for sample, it is only necessary to 
add to your starch bath a few drops of sulphuric acid, 
and add a small quantity of hot water to increase tern- 



52 OSTRICH FEATHER DYEING. 

perature a few degrees, and pass feathers through. 
This bath, same as the garnet, can be used again, and 
improves with age if kept in a clean place. If } 7 ou 
have an old garnet bath on hand, it will answer for ma- 
roon by bringing to a boil and adding about a teaspoon- 
ful more extract of archil to it. 



LEMON COLOR. 

Wash and rinse your feathers thoroughly if dirty 
whites ; if old faded out light colors, bleach with per- 
manganate of potash ; after which prepare bath as fol- 
lows: One gallon ot luke warm water and a handful of 
starch ; enter j T our feathers and rub around between the 
hands for a few seconds ; then add to bath a teaspoon- 
ful of oxalic acid, and dilute about a tablespoonful of 
turmeric in a small quantity of water, and add a few 
drops of the liquor to the bath ; re-enter your feathers 
and let them remain in about one minute or so ; after 
which take them out and add a drop of diluted indigo 
blue; return feathers to bath and allow them to remain 
about one mi$mte longer in bath, after which take out, 
squeeze and dry usual. 

If a deep rich shade be desired, and you have no 
sample to match, use no indigo in the bath. Another 




OLIVE BROWN— page 81. 



OSTRICH FEATHER DYEING. 53 

excellent method of making lemon is to substitute an 
equal amount of picric acid for turmeric ; and, 
should you find your color entirely too dark for 
your sample, rinse off your feathers in luke warm water, 
and proceed to wash with soap and hot water, and rinse 
thoroughly in boiling water ; then prepare a fresh bath 
as per recipe, and enter your feathers, using much care. 
If found too light for your sample, add to bath a little 
more turmeric liquor, and return feathers to bath for a 
few seconds longer, and dry. 



BLACK. 



The most staple and important of all the colors. 
Some will argue that it is not a color; I, to the con- 
trary, however, that it is not only a color, but a combi- 
nation of colors, and it is the knowledge of how to 
properly combine them that results in the production of 
a very handsome and glossy black. Twelve years ago 
a bath of black that was commenced on Monday and 
was ready to go into the drying-room by Saturday was 
considered at that time a most expeditious piece of 
work ; and, even up to the present time, some of our 
old orthodox dyers, — those old chronic, methodical 
dyers, — those who dye according to the most approved 



54 OSTRICH FEATHER DYEING. 

and advantageous methods of half a century age, — still 
continue to occupy the greater part of a week in get- 
ting a black on what (by that time) is left of the feath- 
ers. Their object from the start is to produce a black, 
and they generally succeed. 

Begin, if raw stock, by washing and rinsing thor- 
oughly in order to remove all natural grease and dirt 
adhering to the fibre. If they are old colors to be re- 
dyed a black, it is not necessary to wash them nor to 
bleach them for the purpose of removing any of the 
color, as the black bath will overcome all the other 
colors ; as, for example, a navy blue, a bottle green, 
garnet, etc., can be all entered at the same time, and put 
through precisely the same process, and they will all 
be the same shade of black when they are dried. 

Prepare bath by diluting a quarter pound of tur- 
meric in a gallon of boiling water and bring to a boil ; 
after which enter your feathers, and let remain in bath 
about five minutes, keeping them well under the surface, 
and gently moving while in bath ; after which take 
feathers out and rinse twice in clear cold water. Mean- 
time dilute one pound of logwood in about one and a 
half gallons of boiling water, and boil for about fifteen 
minutes ; after which enter your feathers and let them 
remain in bath about four minutes ; then take out and 



OSTRICH FEATHER DYEING. 55 

rinse thoroughly in two waters. Dilute one ounce cf 
bichromate of potash in one gallon > more or less, of 
boiling water, enough to completely cover up your 
feathers, dissolving bichromate of potash thoroughly. 
Enter your feathers, let them remain in' bath about 
three minutes; after which take them out and rinse 
thoroughly. Meantime have logwood bath boiling, and 
return feathers to it. Cover up, and let them remain 
about eight minutes; take out and rinse twice as be- 
fore. After rinsing, prepare a bath of about half an 
ounce of bichromate of potash and salts of tartar about 
the size of a pea in a gallon of boiling water ; dissolve 
thoroughly. Let them remain in bath about three min- 
utes ; after which take out and rinse thoroughly in cold 
water. Then mix a bath of hot soap-suds, and enter 
feathers ; wash well and rinse in luke warm water. 

The washing and rinsing is not absolutely necessary, 
in fact, it can not much improve what is already a clean, 
glossy black. Washing, however, if productive of a 
change at all, must be beneficial. Then proceed to mix 
a small handful of starch in a small quantity of cold 
water; pass feathers through and dry. While your 
feathers are in the bichromate of potash bath, they 
must be kept moving in bath constantly and well under 
the surface. There is nothing to be added to make a 



66 OSTRICH FEATHER DYEING. 

successful result, except it be to caution you to adhere 
as strictly as possible to the recipe. 

It often occurs that feathers are brought in to be 
dipped over that have faded out, or have grown rusty 
looking from exposure to light and long wear. The 
color can be restored by simply passing them through 
the last two baths for the same length of time that is 
allotted to the regular recipe. During the process of 
drying black be sure to have the starch beaten out as 
fast as it dries. It is best to dry them in the open air, 
and, if possible, allow them to hang in the sun for a 
while, as it improves the color. One especial advantage 
this black has over most others, is that it improves with 
age ; and, instead of fading, the black will grow more 
intense. 



LILAC. 



Wash and rinse thoroughly in hot soap water, and 
rinse in about four waters to remove any particle of 
soap that may adhere to the feathers; next prepare 
bath of one gallon of hand warm water, and add a 
handful of starch. Enter feathers and rub thoroughly 
between the hands ; remove and add to bath a few 
drops of diluted violet, according to shade required ; 



OSTRICH FEATHER DYEING. 57 

add about two drops of diluted saffranine, and re-enter 
feathers, let remain in bath about three minutes, 
squeeze out and dry in powdered starch in the usual 
way. Be sure your starch is clean and free from acid, 
and also that your board is in the same condition. 
Great care should be exercised to see that every parti- 
cle of the violet is dissolved to avoid spots on the 
feathers. Should quite a bluish shade be desired, a 
drop of diluted aniline green added will produce the 
desired result. 



GENDARME BLUE. 

Prepare feathers by washing thoroughly, and rinse 
about four times in hot water to remove any particle of 
soap that may adhere to the feathers. Prepare a bath 
of a teaspoonful of indigotine powder to one gallon of 
boiling water. Mix thoroughly and enter feathers, and 
let remain in about one minute, after which remove and 
add about one teaspoonful of oxalic acid or same quan- 
tity of sulphuric acid, and re-enter feathers, letting 
them remain in bath about five minutes longer ; then 
remove from bath and cool off. Reserve a small por- 
tion of bath, and cool off with cold water, adding a 
drop of sulphuric acid and a small handful of starch ; 



58 OSTRICH FEATHER DYEING. 

pass feathers through and dry in powdered starch by 
rubbing between the hands or by simply beating oi>t on 
a clean board, used only for drying acid colors. 

Should you find your color too dark, thoroughly 
rinse off all the starch and pass feathers through a bath 
of boiling water and let remain about half a minute ; 
pass through starch bath and dry. If found too light, 
simply increase temperature of bath by adding boiling 
water and few drops more indigotine ; re-enter feathers 
and let them remain in bath a couple of minutes 
longer. 



TRILUEL. 

Wash and rinse feathers thoroughly in hot water 
and soap, and rinse thoroughly in about four hot 
waters; then pass through a bath of plain boiling 
water ; next prepare a bath of one gallon of luke warm 
water, and add a handful of starch. Enter feathers 
and rub thoroughly between the hands ; remove and 
add a teaspoonful of oxalic acid ; enter feathers and let 
them remain in bath about two minutes ; then remove 
and add to bath a few drops of diluted picric acid, 
and re-enter feathers ; let remain in about one 
minute longer, take out and dry in the usual way by 




TERRA COTTA— page 42. 



PLUM— page 35. 



OSTRICH FEATHER DYEING. 59 

rubbing in powdered starch between the hands and 
beating out on a clean board until all the starch has 
been removed from the fibre. Should you find your 
color a shade too dark, mix a luke warm starch bath, 
and pass feathers through, keeping them under about 
half a minute, and dry as usual. Be careful that your 
picric acid is thoroughly dissolved, as otherwise it will 
be likely to spot your feathers, if the particles come in 
contact with the flues, and the spots are very hard to 
remove, as it would be necessary to put them through a 
bleaching process. 



ARMY BLUE. 

Prepare feathers by washing and rinsing thoroughly 
in hot water. Be careful about rinsing to remove every 
particle of soap that may adhere to the fibre, after 
which prepare bath as follows : One teaspoonful of in- 
digotine powder, diluted in one gallon of boiling water, 
and add thereto about half a teaspoonful of oxalic acid, 
stirring around well to thoroughly dissolve every parti- 
cle of color. Enter feathers and let them remain in 
bath about four minutes ; after which take out and rinse 
in luke warm water to remove the acid in feathers ; 
next prepare a bath of one gallon of hand warm water 



60 OSTHICH FEATHER DYEING. 

and add a small handful of starch ; add thereto a cupful 
of boiled logwood liquor and a few grains of copperas, 
enter feathers, let remain in bath about three minutes ; 
take out and dry by rubbing between the hands in pow- 
dered starch, and beat out on a clean board until all the 
starch has been removed. Should you find your color 
darker than shade required, prepare a bath of half a 
teaspoon ful of oxalic acid in a gallon of hahd warm 
water, and pass feathers through about half a minute ; 
take out and pass through boiling water, after which 
pass through starch bath and dry. Should you find 
shade too light, add more logwood to bath, increase 
temperature, let remain in a couple of minutes longer 
and dry. 



PURPLE. 



Prepare feathers by washing in hot water and soap 
thoroughly, and afterwards rinse in about four hot 
waters to remove every particle of soap and dirt ; after 
which prepare bath as follows : Take one gallon of water 
about 200 p Fah. ; dilute therein half a teaspoonful of 
Violet 3 Bestirring it around thoroughly to dissolve 
every particle. Enter your feathers and let remain 
about five minutes ; after which take out and pour out 



OSTRICH FEATHEIt DYEING. 61 

the bath 1 reserving some, and cooling it off with cold, 
clean water, add a small handful of starch and pass 
feathers through, first cooling them off by shaking 
them in the air ; rub them between the hands in starch 
bath to aid the flue or fibre to expand ; after which 
squeeze out and rub thoroughly between the hands, and 
beat out on a clean board until every particle of starch 
has been removed. Should you find the top or tips a 
darker shade than the bottom, or should they bronze or 
assume a metallic appearance, pass feathers through a 
bowl of boiling water with a small pinch of soda added, 
and rinse ; after which pass through a new starch bath 
with a few drops of diluted violet added ; take out and 
dry. 



MEDIUM GREEN. 

Prepare your feathers same as for bottle green. 
Prepare bath by diluting about one ounce of turmeric 
in a gallon of boiling water, and enter feathers, letting 
them remain in bath about two minutes ; after which 
take out and rinse in cold water twice. Have boiling a 
medium strong bath of logwood, and pass feathers 
through for a few seconds, first cooling off temperature 
of logwood bath a few degrees with cold water ; after 



62 OSTRICH FEATHER DYEING. 

which rinse off thoroughly, and prepare a bath of a 
quarter of an ounce of bichromate of potash in a gallon 
of boiling water, dissolve it thoroughly, and enter 
feathers ; let them remain in this bath about ten sec- 
onds, and take them out and rinse thoroughly in cold 
water. Proceed to dilute one teaspoonful of turmeric 
and a half teaspoonful of aniline green in a gallon of 
boiling water, and reduce temperature a few degrees 
with cold water. Enter your feathers, and let them re- 
main in bath about three minutes ; then take them out 
and cool off a small portion of bath, and add a small 
handful of starch, and dry in the usual way. 

If found to be too dark, add a few drops of diluted 
oxalic acid to starch bath, and pass your feathers 
through for a few seconds. If found too light, rinse off 
the starch in cold water and return to logwood bath for 
a few seconds, without increasing the temperature any, 
and rinse off and give a weak bath of bichromate of 
potash, rinse off and dry. 



BEIGE. 

Prepare your feathers by washing and rinsing thor- 
oughly, or if old light colors, bleach with permanganate 
of potash, being sure to rinse out in hot water to re- 



OSTRICH FEATHER DYEING. 63 

move acid from feathers, before putting in bath. Dilute 
a small quantity of starch in a gallon of boiling water, 
and enter your feathers, rubbing them around in bath 
between the hands to expands the flues and admit the 
color evenly on feathers. After which add to bath a 
small pinch of copperas, about the size of a bean, and 
about a teaspoonful of turmeric, and enter your feath- 
ers, letting them remain in bath about one minute; 
take them out, and add about a teaspoonful of logwood 
liquor; reenter your feathers, and let them remain in 
bath about one minute, first increasing the temperature 
by adding hot water ; after which remove feathers from 
bath, and add thereto a few drops of diluted Bismarck 
brown. To bring the ecru tint desired, a few seconds 
before taking feathers from bath to dry, add a couple of 
drops of diluted violet, squeeze out and dry 

If a very dark shade of beige is wanted use a 
greater amount of logwood and Bismarck brown, and if 
lighter shade is desired, less color should be used. 
Should your color be found altogether too dark for 
sample, dilute about half a teaspoonful of oxalic acid 
in a gallon of hot water, more or less. Pass your 
feathers through for a few seconds, and rinse off twice 
in luke warm water and once in boiling water. Then 
mix a fresh bath of luke warm water and starch, and 



64 OSTRICH FEATHER, DYEING. 

add thereto a small proportion of turmeric and diluted 
Bismarck brown, and copperas about the size of a pea. 
Enter your feathers, and, using care, bring to the de- 
sired shade. 



CORN COLOR. 

Prepare feathers by washing and rinsing thoroughly 
if dirty greasy whites, or bleach with permanganate of 
potash if faded out light colors. Prepare your bath as 
follows : Take one gallon of luke warm water and di- 
lute therein a small handful of starch, and rub your 
feathers around between the hands. Add about a half 
teaspoonful of turmeric and dilute well in bath. Enter 
your feathers and rub around well between the hands. 
Increase the temperature of your bath by adding hot 
water, and allow your feathers to remain in bath about 
one minute ; then take them out and add a couple of 
drops of diluted aniline brown ; re-enter feathers and 
let them remain in bath about one minute longer ; then 
squeeze out and dry as usual. 

If your shade to match be considerably on the yel- 
low shade, use very little aniline brown, about one drop, 
and if more on the brown, use less turmeric. If your 
color be entirely too dark and dull looking, dilute half 



OSTRICH FEATHER DYEING. 05 

a teaspoonful of oxalic acid, and pass feathers through 
for a few seconds and rinse off in luke water water. 
Prepare a fresh bath and enter your feathers, as per re- 
cipe; or, if wanted a very bright shade, wash off with 
soap and hot water, and rinse thoroughly in hot water. 
Then prepare a bath of one teaspoonful of turmeric, 
one teaspoonful of oxalic acid and one teaspoonful of 
diluted Bismarck brown in a gallon of luke warm 
water. Enter your feathers and keep in bath about two 
minutes, add a little starch to bath, and pass feathers 
through for a few seconds longer, squeeze out and dry 
in the usual way. 



ELECTRIC BLUE. 

Feathers must be white, or nearly so, to make a 
good clear shade of electric blue. Prepare your feath- 
ers by washing with soap and hot water if dirty whites, 
and if old, faded light colors bleach with permanganate 
of potash. Prepare your bath as follows : Take half a 
teaspoonful of cotton blue and a half teaspoonful of 
oxalic acid, — a little more or less matters not, — in a 
gallon of boiling water. Enter your feathers, and let 
them remain in bath about five minutes; after which 
take out ?.nd rinse twice in cold water and once in hot 



66 OSTRICH FEATHER DYEING. 

water to remove all acid and loose color. Prepare a 
bath of about one cupful of logwood liquor and a small 
pinch of copperas in a gallon of hot water, not quite 
boiling, however, and pass feathers through for a couple 
of minutes. Cool off a little of your bath, and add a 
small handful of starch and a few drops of violet, pass 
feathers through and dry. 



MEDIUM BROWN. 

All light colors can be made a handsome shade of 
medium brown without removing the color by bleach- 
ing or without washing, unless very dirty and greasy. 
Prepare your bath by diluting about two ounces of tur- 
meric and a half ounce of copperas in one gallon, more 
or less, of boiling water. Enter your feathers, keep 
them well under the surface of bath, and let them re- 
main therein about two minutes ; after which take out, 
rinse twice in cold water. Have boiling meantime a 
medium strong bath of logwood, about the same pro- 
portion as for black ; boil about fifteen minutes, and 
enter your feathers, allowing them to remain in about 
one minute ; after which take out and rinse off twice in 
cold water; then dilute about a half teaspoonful of ani- 
line brown in a gallon of boiling water, and after dis- 



OSTRICH FEATHER DYEING. 67 

solving well, enter your feathers, and let them remain 
in bath about two minutes ; take out and rinse in cold 
water ; after which dilute a small handful of starch in 
a small quantity of luke warm water, and add to that 
a couple of drops of sulphuric acid ; pass feathers 
through for a few seconds, squeeze out and dry. 

Should your color be too dark to match sample, re- 
turn to starch bath, add a few drops of sulphuric acid y 
let feathers remain in about half a minute, and dry. If 
a darker shade is wanted, it is necessary to rinse off 
starch in cold water, and return your feathers to log- 
wood bath for a few seconds, rinse off and repeat Bis- 
marck brown bath as before. By this process, with a 
little judgment, all shades of brown can be produced in 
the most satisfactory manner. 



MEDIUM BLUE. 

Prepare your feathers by washing and rinsing thor- 
oughly in hot water ; light faded out colors need not be 
bleached, but thoroughly washed in hot soap suds in- 
stead. Prepare your bath as follows : Take one tea- 
spoonful of concentrated cotton blue and one teaspoon- 
ful of oxalic acid, dilute it in one gallon of boiling 
water. Be careful to see that the blue crystals are well 



68 OSTRICH FEATHER DYEING. 

dissolved. Enter your feathers, and let them remain in 
bath about four minutes, keeping them well under the 
surface. Meantime keep them gently agitated to in- 
sure an even color ; after which take out, rinse, starch 
and drjr. 

If your feathers be found too dark for sample, or 
too much on the purple, rinse off, starch in cold water 
thoroughly, and pass through a bowl of boiling water, 
starch and dry, using a few grains of oxalic acid diluted 
in starch bath. 

If a very light shade be desired, use but half the 
quantity of cotton blue, and do not allow them to re- 
main in bath quite so long a time. If a much darker 
shade be required than the foregoing recipe will pro- 
duce, then rinse off your feathers thoroughly in cold 
water, to remove all starch, and pass feathers through 
a medium strong bath of logwood at boiling tempera- 
ture for a few seconds, and rinse off twice in cold 
water ; dilute a half ounce of bichromate of potash in 
a gallon of boiling water, and pass your feathers 
through for a few seconds only; rinse, starch and dry. 
Should you get your color too dark by this process, 
pass your feathers through a solution of half a tea- 
spoonful of oxalic acid in a gallon of boiling water, and 
rinse off in boiling water twice ; then dilute a small 



OSTRICH FEATHER DYEING. 69 

quantity of starch in luke warm water, add a few grains 
of oxalic acid to it, pass feathers through and dry as 
usual. 



MAGENTA. 



Prepare your feathers, whether dirty whites or 
faded out light colors, by washing thoroughly in hot 
soap suds and rinsing well in hot water. Prepare your 
bath as follows : Take about a half teaspoonful of saf- 
ranine and dilute in one gallon, more or less, of boiling 
water, and add thereto a half tablespoonful of extract 
of archil. Enter your feathers and let them remain in 
bath about two minutes ; after which take out and add 
to bath a few drops of diluted violet, and re-enter your 
feathers, letting them remain in bath about one minute 
longer. Then take out and rinse in cold water, and di- 
lute a small handful of starch in bowl of luke warm 
water ; pass feathers through and dry. 

If found too red for sample, rinse off and add to 
bath a tablespoonful of extract of archil ; return feath- 
ers to bath for about one minute, first, however, in- 
creasing temperature ; next rinse, starch and dry. 

If found to be too much on the plum for sample, 
rinse off and add to bath about a quarter teaspoonful of 



70 OSTRICH FEATHER DYEING. 

safranine, increase temperature of bath to almost boil- 
ing ; enter feathers and let them remain in bath about 
one minute; after which rinse, starch and dry. If 
found to be too light, add a few drops of diluted violet 
to bath; and, if too dark, dilute a half teaspoonful of 
oxalic acid in one gallon of luke warm water, and pass 
feathers through for a few seconds, rinse off twice or 
more in boiling water ; then prepare bath same as per 
recipe, and allow them to remain until desired shade is 
obtained. 



SEA FOAM. 



This is a very delicate shade of color bordering on 
pea green. Your feathers must be white, or nearly so. 
If dirty whites, wash and rinse thoroughly ; and, if old 
faded out colors, pass through bleach of permanganate 
of potash ; after which prepare your bath of one gallon 
of luke warm water and a small handful of starch, and 
enter your feathers, rubbing them around between the 
hands. Take feathers from bath and add about a half 
teaspoonful of turmeric ; re-enter your feathers, keep- 
ing them moving around in bath about half a minute. 
Then take out your feathers and add to bath a couple 
of drops of diluted aniline green. Re-enter feathers, 



OSTRICH FEATHER DYEING. 71 

first increasing the temperature of your bath a few de- 
grees by adding hot water, let them remain in bath 
about two minutes longer, squeeze out and dry in the 
usual way. 

Should your sample be more on the green, you will 
simply add a few drops more diluted aniline green ; 
and if more on the yellow, you can use less. If the 
shade to be matched be darker than your feathers, add 
more of each color in the preparation of first bath. If 
a rather dull shade be desired, which in this color is 
quite frequently the case, a small pinch of copperas 
about the size of a pea will have the desired effect. 

Should you find your color entirely too dark for 
your sample, wash off thoroughly in soap suds, and 
rinse in hot water; after which dilute a half teaspoon- 
f ul of oxalic acid in a gallon of luke warm water, 
pass feathers through for a few seconds and rinse off in 
luke warm water. Then prepare your bath as per 
recipe, using a little more care and judgment in your 
second attempt. 



SALMON. 



Have your feathers white, or nearly so, by washing 
if dirty, or bleaching with permanganate if needed, 



72 OSTRICH FEATHER DYEING. 

being careful to rinse thoroughly for the purpose of re- 
moving any acid or soap ; after which prepare your 
bath as follows : Take one gallon of luke warm water 
and a small handful of starch. Enter your feathers and 
rub around between the hands for a few seconds ; then 
add to bath a few drops of diluted safranine and cop- 
peras about the size of a pea. Let your feathers re- 
main in bath about one minute ; after which take out 
and add to bath about one teaspoonful of diluted 
Bismarck brown, first increasing temperature of bath a 
few degrees with hot water ; re-enter your feathers and 
allow them to remain in bath about a minute; after 
which squeeze out and dry in the usual way. 

If your sample to be matched be more on the pink, 
use less aniline brown ; and if more on the yellow, use 
less safranine and more aniline brown. Should you de- 
sire a much darker shade, use more of each color than 
laid down in recipe, and add a few drops of logwood 
liquor. If your feathers be found altogether too dark 
for sample, rinse off starch in cold water and dilute a 
half teaspoonful of oxalic acid in luke warm water, and 
pass your feathers through for a few seconds, take out 
and rinse a couple of times in hot water (not boiling). 
Prepare bath again as per recipe, using greater care. 
This shade of color is on the order of the terra cotta 



OSTE-ICH FEATHER DYEING. 73 

and crushed strawberry, and can be made in the same 
bath by adding color or diluting. Be careful in drying 
to use only clean starch and a clean board that has not 
been used with any acid colors. 



STONE COLOR. 

Stone color is a shade varying very slightly from 
slate and smoke color. All light shades can be used for 
this color; first preparing them by washing and rinsing 
them thoroughly. Prepare a medium strong bath of 
logwood by boiling for about fifteen minutes; after 
which enter your feathers, and let them remain in bath 
about two or three minutes, longer if a very dark shade 
be required; then take them out and rinse in cold 
water twice. Prepare a bath of half ounce of bichrom- 
ate of potash in one gallon of boiling water, and dis- 
solve thoroughly. Enter your feathers, and let them 
remain in bath about two minutes, keeping them well 
under the surface of bath and moving at the same time, 
to assist in producing an even color ; after which take 
out and rinse off about three times in cold water, and 
prepare a bath of hot soap water. Enter your feathers, 
and wash thoroughly, adding to bath a small pinch of 
soda ; after which rinse carefully in hot water ; dis- 






74 OSTRICH FEATHER DYEING. 

solve a small handful of starch in cold water, pass your 
feathers through, squeeze out and dry in the usual 
way. 

If your feathers be found much too light for your 
sample to be matched, rinse off starch in cold water, 
and return your feathers to logwood bath for a few sec- 
onds ; dissolve a small pinch of copperas in a gallon of 
boiling water, reduce temperature a little and enter 
your feathers, letting them remain in bath a few sec- 
onds. Take out and pass through starch and dry If 
found to be altogether too dark, dilute a teaspoonful of 
oxalic acid in a gallon of hot water ; pass feathers 
through a few seconds and rinse off in boiling water 
twice ; wash, starch and dry. 



BRONZE. 

Wash and rinse thoroughly, using soap for washing, 
and rinse out in hot water about four times ; after 
which prepare a bath of one quarter pound of turmeric 
to one gallon of boiling water. Enter feathers and let 
remain in bath about three minutes ; take out and rinse. 
Boil a bath of half pound of logwood to one gallon of 
water about ten minutes ; enter feathers and let remain 
in bath about four minutes ; take out and rinse. Then 



OSTRICH FEATHER DYEING. 75 

prepare a bath of half an ounce of bichromate of pot- 
ash and one gallon of boiling water, and let feathers re- 
main in bath about two minutes, take out and rinse. 
Next prepare a bath of one quarter pound of turmeric 
and one-quarter teaspoonful of Victoria green crystals, 
and add one gallon of boiling water. Enter feathers 
and let remain in bath about four minutes ; take out, 
cool off a small portion of the bath and add a small 
handful of starch. Pass feathers through and dry in 
powdered starch by pressing between the hands ; then 
beat on a board or table until all the starch is removed 
from the feather. 



CHOCOLATE. 

Prepare your feathers by washing and rinsing thor- 
oughly ; and, if necessary, bleach with permanganate of 
potash. After doing this, rinse thoroughly in hot wa- 
ter for the purpose of removing all acid from the fibre. 
Prepare your bath of one gallon of water at boiling 
temperature ; add thereto a teaspoonful of turmeric and 
a small pinch of copperas about the size of a bean. 
Enter your feathers and allow them to remain in bath 
about one minute or longer. Take out your feathers, 
and add to bath about one tablespoonful of diluted Bis- 



70 OSTRICH FEATHER DYEING. 

marck Brown and a few drops of diluted violet ; re-en- 
ter your feathers, and let them remain in bath about 
three minutes, keeping them meanwhile well under the 
suriace of the bath ; after which take them out, cool 
off a small portion of the bath, and add thereto a small 
handful of starch ; pass your feathers through and dry 
in the usual way. 

If a very dark shade be required, you will add to 
bath about a tablespconful of logwood liquor at the 
same time you add the violet, and allow them to remain 
in bath a little longer. Should you find your color en- 
tirely too dark for your sample to be matched, rinse off 
starch in cold water ; dilute about a half teaspoonful of 
oxalic acid in a gallon or more of hot water. Pass 
your feathers through, and rinse off in luke warm water 
twice ; then pass your feathers through a bath of boil- 
ing water, for the purpose of effectively removing the 
acid ; after which prepare again as called for in recipe, 
using a little more care, and the desired result will be 
obtained. 



MOSS COLOR. 

Wash your feathers and rinse thoroughly. Prepare 
your bath of quarter pound of turmeric and a half 




SEAL BROWN^-page 29. 



CRUSHED\STRAWB'/Y-page 34. 




ORANGE— page 48. 



BISMARQK BROWN— page 28. 



OSTRICH FEATHER DYEING. 77 

ounce of copperas diluted in a gallon or more of boil- 
ing water. Enter your feathers and let them remain in 
bath about two minutes; after which take out and 
rinse twice in cold water. Meantime have a medium 
strong bath of logwood boiling, and enter your feath- 
ers, letting them remain in about one minute, take out 
and rinse. Then prepare a bath of about two ounces 
of turmeric and a small pinch of aniline green in a gal- 
lon of boiling water. Enter your feathers and allow 
them to remain in bath about three minutes or longer. 
Take out and cool off a small quantity of bath with 
<jold water ; add a small handful of starch, pass your 
feathers through and dry. 

If your color be found too much on the green for 
your sample to be matched, add to starch bath a few 
drops of sulphuric acid; or, instead, rinse off starch 
and mix a bath of two ounces of turmeric in a gallon 
of boiling water ; pass 3 T our feathers through for a min- 
ute or so, starch and dry. 

If found to be too much on the yellow or olive, add 
to your bath a few grains of aniline green, and return 
them to the same for a few seconds, first rinsing off 
starch in cold water. If found too light, pass for a few 
seconds through a weak bath of bichromate of potash ; 
and if too dark, dilute a few grains of oxalic acid in 



78 OSTRICH FEATHER DYEING. . 

hot water, and add to your starch bath a few drops. 
Pass your feathers through for a few seconds and dry 
in the usual way. 



PLAIN DRAB. 

If your feathers are old, dirty whites, wash and 
rinse them thoroughly. If light colors, remove the 
same by passing through permanganate of potash pro- 
cess, and use great care in rinsing to remove all the 
acid before entering in bath. Prepare your bath with 
one gallon of luke warm water and a small handful of 
starch ; enter your feathers and rub them around well 
in bath between the hands to expand the fibres. Take 
out your feathers, and add to bath a small piece of cop- 
peras about the size of a bean and about a quarter cup. 
ful of logwood liquor; re-enter your feathers, and let 
them remain in bath a few minutes, meantime adding a 
small quantity of hot water to increase temperature of 
bath; then add a couple of drops of diluted safranine 
to bath, let remain in bath one minute longer, squeeze 
out and dry as usual. 

If wanted more on the shade of felt drab, use, in- 
stead of safranine, a few drops of Bismarck brown ; 
and if wanted more on the steel, use a few drops of di- 



OSTRICH FEATHER DYEINGK 79 

luted violet in bath. If a darker shade should be de- 
sired, use only a little more logwood liquor, and allow 
them to remain a short time in bath. 

Should you find your color to be altogether too dark 
for sample to be matched, rinse off starch, and dilute a 
half teaspoonful of oxalic acid in hot water ; pass your 
feathers through, rinse off a couple of times in luke 
warm water and lastly through boiling water, for the 
purpose of removing all acid. Then prepare a fresh 
bath according to recipe, and pass through until you 
have obtained the desired shade. 



COFFEE COLOR. 

Old faded out light colors need only to be thorough- 
ly washed and rinsed to prepare them for this color ; 
and darker colors can be prepared by bleaching with 
permanganate of potash, taking care to rinse thorough- 
ly in hot water for the purpose of removing all the 
acid. Prepare your bath of about one teaspoonful of 
turmeric and copperas about the size of a bean in a 
gallon of boiling water. Enter your feathers and let 
remain in bath about two minutes; remove feathers 
from bath and add a half cupful of logwood liquor and 
return feathers to bath, letting them remain in about 



80 OSTRICH FEATHER DYEING. 

one minute; after which remove feathers and add to 
your bath about two tablespoonfuls of diluted Bismarck 
brown and hot water to increase temperature of bath ; 
re enter feathers and allow them to remain in about two 
minutes ; after which cool off a small quantity of the 
bath and add a small handful of starch ; pass feathers 
through and dry. 

If found to be too light, return to bath, first adding 
more logwood liquor and Bismarck brown, and let them 
remain in bath about one minute. If too dark for your 
sample to be matched, dilute a few grains of oxalic acid 
in luke warm water; pass feathers through for a few 
seconds and rinse off three times in luke warm water. 
Then prepare bath as per recipe, using more care in the 
preparation. 

If found too much on the yellow, a few drops of di- 
luted safranine added to your bath will produce the 
desired effect. Use clean starch in drying ; if a table 
or board is used, see that it is perfectly clean and free 
from acid. 



PEA GREEN. 

Prepare your feathers by washing thoroughly in hot 
water, and rinse thoroughly to remove any soap that 



OSTRICH FEATHER DYEING. 81 

may adhere to the feathers. Then prepare a bath by 
diluting a handful of starch in a half gallon of hand 
warm water, and rub feathers around between the 
hands. Remove feathers and a add a few drops of di- 
luted Victoria green and a couple of drops of diluted 
picric acid. Enter feathers, letting them remain in 
bath about two minutes, keeping them well under the 
surface to insure an even color. 

If wanted a shade more on the yellow, add a drop 
more of picric acid ; and if more on the blue, leave the 
picric acid out entirely. Take out and dry in starch, 
being careful to beat out on a clean board in the usual 
way. 



OLIVE BROWN. 

Wash feathers thoroughly in hot water and soap y 
and rinse about four times in hot water ; after which 
prepare a bath of half a pound of logwood ; first enter 
feathers in one-quarter pound of turmeric and one gal- 
lon of boiling water; let them remain in bath about 
four minutes. When logwood bath has boiled suffi- 
ciently, say ten minutes, rinse feathers out of turmeric 
in cold water ; and enter in logwood, letting them re- 
main in bath about six minutes; take out and rinse. 



'82 OSTRICH FEATHER DYEING. 

Prepare a bath of half an ounce of bichromate of pot- 
ash and one gallon of boiling water ; enter feathers and 
let remain in bath about one minute ; take out and 
rinse thoroughly in cold water. Mix a bath of one 
ounce of turmeric to one ounce of archil and half the 
old logwood bath ; bring to a boil and enter feathers, 
letting them remain in bath about six minutes; take 
out and rinse. Then mix a bath of luke warm water 
and starch, add a couple of drops of sulphuric acid and 
a couple of drops of picric acid diluted ; pass feathers 
through, squeeze out thoroughly and dry by rubbing 
in powdered starch between the hands ; beat out on a 
clean board until all the starch is removed from the 
feathers. 



PROCESS OF DEGRADING OR BLEACHING 

NATURAL GRAY OR BLACK 

WHITE. 

Begin by washing and rinsing your feathers thor- 
oughly ; after which soak in a bath of compound of 
one gallon of ammonia to eight gallons of water for 
about eight hours ; take feathers out and squeeze out 
the excess of ammonia which is in the flues. Put your 
feathers in the peroxide of hydrogen with an addition 




CARDINAL— page 33. 



MEDIUM GREEN— page 61. 



OSTRICH FEATHER DYEING. 83 

of twelve to sixteen ounces of ammonia to one five 
gallon can or demijohn, and let it work slowly, stirring 
feathers from time to time for about six hours ; after 
which lay your feathers on one side of the tub and add 
to the peroxide of hydrogen bath about four ounces 
more of ammonia; stir the bath well to insure a thor- 
ough mixture of the peroxide of hydrogen with the 
ammonia. 

The peroxide of hydrogen will continue to work for 
about twelve hours more, until it becomes thoroughly 
exhausted; after which take out your feathers and 
rinse a few times in luke warm water. Then proceed 
to put them in a second bath of peroxide of hydrogen 
to be prepared as follows : To a half gallon demijohn 
of peroxide of hydrogen add two and a half gallons of 
water, and add thereto about eight ounces of ammonia. 
Then enter your feathers, and allow the bath to work a 
few hours ; again add about two ounces of ammonia by 
the same process as before, and then let it work a few 
hours longer, or until the bath becomes exhausted. To 
ascertain whether total exhaustion has taken place, take 
a small portion of the bath in a glass and dilate therein 
a few grains of permanganate of potash; if it be not 
totally exhausted, bubbles will appear on the surface ; 
if exhausted, none will be noticeable. 



84 OSTRICH FEATHER DYEING. 

After your feathers have been removed from the 
bath they must be carefully rinsed off in three or four 
waters, a few degrees more than luke warm. Then pre- 
pare a warm soap bath, and allow your feathers to re« 
main in a few minutes; after which rinse off thorough- 
ly in luke warm water ; dilute a small handful of starch 
in a quantity of cold water, pass your feathers through 
and dry. 

All natural color will have entirely disappeared. 
Whatever portion of the amount of feathers you have 
just bleached are for whites, before drying them up, 
prepare a bath as per recipe for white, pass through and 
dry in the usual way. This process of bleaching is 
used only when it is desirable to make light colors from 
gray or natural black feathers, but feathers for navy 
blue, seal brown, bottle green, etc., will not be improved 
by bleaching. The shade of color can be evened off in 
the bath. 



OSTRICH FEATHER DYEING. 85 



HINTS ABOUT THE DYE- 
HOUSE. 



In dyehouses where steam is used, it is necessary to 
boil your bath a longer time than where the bath comes 
in direct contact with the fire. The accommodations of 
a dyehouse for the readying of ostrich feathers need be 
very simple and inexpensive; in fact, I have seen a 
dyehouse where old re-dyed transient work to the 
amount of fifty dollars per day was accomplished with 
a small cooking stove, a wash-boiler, a wash-bowl and a 
tin dipper ; costing in all less than six dollars. Of 
course, in the manufacture of raw stock it is necessary 
to have larger vessels and much better facilities ; for in- 
stance, instead of from ten to fifty, or even a hundred 
feathers, you will of necessity be compelled to dye lots 
of from five to ten pounds of goods at one time. Two 
stationary tubs or vats, one for use in washing white 
and bleaching, and the other for black, with water pipes 



86 OSTRICH FEATHER DYEING, 

and steam pipes and connections ; a few large porcelain 
lined or copper basins for dark colors are essential ; 
it is also well to have an outer room or inclosed closet 
to keep your dyestuffs in, as it is important that they 
be kept clean. When cans of color are opened for the 
purpose of diluting a portion or making a color, have 
the cover replaced and returned to closet when through 
with it. 

Have bench or table whereon rests your basins, while 
you match shades in making colors, if possible, where a 
north light will strike it ; and if cold weather and the 
windows closed, keep the glass clean. You will often 
get various reflections in the dyehouse that cause a 
great deal of trouble to the dyer ; as, for example, if 
the sun should be shining on a red brick wall and the 
reflection beating into the dyehouse, it will often lead 
the dyer astray, and while he thinks he has a perfect 
match, when the color goes into the office there is a de- 
cided difference. 

The great majority who are expected to be benefitted 
by this work are not ostrich feather manufacturers, 
but the job dyer ; and it is my object to simplify the 
dyehouse as well as the methods of dyeing. A small 
corner of the dyehouse can be used, and a couple of 
ordinary wash-bowls, a common wash boiler and a tin 



OSTRICH FEATHER DYEING. 8T 

dipper are really all the utensils that are practically 
necessary to complete the dyehouse for the renovator. 
A couple of hours in the morning devoted to feather 
dyeing, and a good practical man can turn out fifty 
dollars worth at a cost of only his two hours labor, and 
perhaps fifty cents worth of color. Feathers can be 
dried in an ordinary hot room or, if warm weather, out 
in the open air. The dry room where large quantities 
of feathers are dried should never be too warm, as the 
feathers are apt to dry up quicker than the boys can 
beat the starch out of them ; and, as a consequence, 
the flues or fibres are not expanded as they should be, 
and the feathers are much harder to curl. The board 
or table used to beat the feathers on must be perfectly 
smooth, as there is otherwise danger of tearing out the 
flues. 

The drying of feathers is quite an important opera- 
tion, and if not understood, can result in ruining a 
great many by drying them improperly, allowing the 
starch to dry up on the flues without beating it out, 
and by breaking the quills. The dry room is only used 
when the weather is too inclement to dry in the open 
air, or when you have not got outside accommodations. 
The yard or roof is far preferable to the dry -room, and 
especially so for white and black feathers. After hav- 



'88 OSTRICH FEATHER DYEING. 

ing been washed and the starch thoroughly removed, it 
will improve them greatly to expose them to the sun 
for an hour or two. Colors, especially delicate shades, 
should not be allowed to hang in the sun only during 
the actual thne required for drying a black made by our 
process ; it greatly improves upon exposure to the sun- 
light, giving it an advantage over all others. Baths of 
logwood or old garnet baths that you are desirous of 
saving for future use, it will be well to remove them 
from the copper or tin basins or pans to wooden buck- 
ets or crockery jars, and cover them up for the purpose 
of excluding all foreign matter. 



MISCELLANEOUS INFORMATION. 

In the re-dying of old feathers the first thing neces- 
sary is to enter them in book by whatever system you 
may think best ; after which they are assorted as to 
color, the blacks, browns, greens, blues, etc. Put in 
separate lots and then string them and mark your tick- 
ets. You will often find when you have selected your 
colors a number of different shades to be dj T ed one 
color ; as, for example, when you come to string your 
browns, you will find a blue, a green, a garnet, a drab, 
;and perhaps a dozen different shades of colors ; string 



OSTRICH FEATHER DYEING. 89 

them all on at once and enter together, and dye a good 
medium shade of seal brown and dry ; after which you 
proceed to take them off the string, and place them 
with their respective tickets. You will now find, per- 
haps, one a shade too dark for your sample, another 
perhaps a shade too light. The former you would pass 
through a weak solution of sulphuric acid in starch 
bath, and the latter through a weak solution of bi- 
chromate of potash. Another one you may find a little 
too red for sample, or too yellow. These, in turn, you 
can bring to match your sample as per recipe for 
brown. 

In beginning the days work, it is well to do all your 
bleaching and cleaning first, while your hand basins 
and dyehouse are in a clean condition; after which 
the blacks, as they require logwood good and pure, and 
the same logwood used for them can be used for all 
other colors where logwood enters into their composi- 
tion. Consequently one bath of logwood boiled in the 
morning will do all the work for the day. 

In Chicago I remember, while giving instruction to 
a gentleman, who had come down from St. Paul, Minn., 
for the purpose of learning the art, that in one after- 
noon I taught him how to make every color and shade 
of color known, and my logwood bath that was used 



90 OSTRICH FEATHER DYEING. 

during the whole day's work was boiled in a small 
sauce-pan that held about two quarts. It had been used 
in making black, browns, greens and navy blues of all 
shades, and was still in good enough condition to make 
any color, excepting perhaps black. 

Keep your bath of logwood covered at all times 
when not in actual use, and, indeed, then, if convenient, 
to prevent any foreign substance from entering it. It 
is the custom of a great many ostrich feather dyers to 
keep a quantity of starch in the dyehouse for the pur- 
pose of dipping their feathers into it and partially 
beating them out prior to removing them from the bath 
for the purpose of drying the ends up to see if they 
match sample. This is a very bad practice, for the 
loose starch flying through the dyehouse will settle on 
the uncovered colors and cause not a little annoyance 
and trouble. Keep the starch out of the dyehouse ; 
keep it in the drying-room where it belongs. In drying 
your feathers out of the baths in starch it is well to 
have two boxes, — one to be used for colors that contain 
acid; as, for example, light blues, lemon, etc., — the 
ether for those colors that contain none ; such as drabs, 
pinks, etc. In dissolving colors use ordinary bottles, 
and be sure to always use boiling water for the purpose 
of diluting. Let the proportions be about one tea* 



OSTRICH FEATHER DYEING. 91 

spoonful of color to one pint of boiling water. Shake 
gently to thoroughly dilute aniline, and cork or cover 
bottles to keep out dirt. 

Colors that are used in making very delicate shades, 
such as pinks or light blues, it is well to tie around the 
top of the bottle in place of a cork a small piece of 
muslin. It will act as a strainer, and prevent particles 
of color that may not have been thoroughly dissolved 
from passing into the bath and spotting your goods. 
Do not be too careful of the hands and afraid of get- 
ting them covered with dyestuffs ; use them in the bath 
instead of sticks at all times, excepting where the liq- 
uid is too hot to permit it. The best method of clean- 
ing the hands, no matter how dirty, is to pass them 
through a solution of soda, about one-quarter ounce in 
a small quantity of hot water ; rinse off in cold water, 
and take about a teaspoonful of chloride of lime, 
moisten with water and rub the hands gently with it 
until all color has entirely disappeared ; then wash with 
soap and hot water. 



WASHING RAW STOCK. 

First string your feathers, being careful to place the 
string on the end of quill so as not to get any of the 



92 OSTRICH FEATHER DYEING. 

flues under the loop; then slice down according to 
quantity of feathers to be washed, from one to more 
pounds of soap in boiling water, and boil down to a liq- 
uor ; after which fill a clean tub half full of luke warm 
water, and pour soap into it ; then enter your feathers 
and give them a slight rubbing. Then push them well 
under the surface of the water, cover them up and al- 
low them to remain over night. In the morning run off 
dirty water and squeeze out your feathers ; enter your 
feathers in a tub of clean luke warm water and use an 
ordinary wash board and a soft scrubbing brush. Rub 
bar soap on feathers, and brush gently, being very care- 
ful not to tear out the flues. Soap and brush one 
string at a time, manipulate them much after the man- 
ner of a woman handling a large wash. Be careful to 
give minute attention to the bottom portion of the 
feathers, as the flues are always more closely stuck to- 
gether with the natural grease of the bird, and it often 
requires an amount of hard labor to remove. Repeat 
the washing operation and rinse off in about three luke 
warm waters, starch and dry. 

In starching rub the feathers around well between 
the hands for the purpose of getting all the flues thor- 
oughly expanded, squeeze out of bath and hang on 
lines to dry. Put no more out at once than the dyers 



OSTRICH FEATHER DYEING. 93 

can comfortably handle, as it is well to have them beat 
out on board at regular intervals of a minute or so*, 
thereby expanding the flues to their utmost. The pro- 
cess of selecting the different grades or qualities follow, 
and it is necessary for the person performing this work 
to be familiar with the application of dyestuffs to feath- 
ers, to insure the dyer less trouble ; as the different 
qualities all put in the bath together, and going through 
exactly the same process will come out different shades 
of color, will cause the dyer a great deal of trouble and 
labor getting them all an even color. When a batch of 
feathers are intended for white it will not be necessary 
to dry them first ; simply wash and rinse, and prepare 
your white bath as per recipe, and pass them through it. 
It is scarcely necessary to remark here that natural 
black and gray feathers must not be washed at the same 
time with whites, as the latter would not be improved. 
Strings should not contain more than fifty plumes, 
for, if they are made much longer, it would be awkward 
to handle them. Tips, however, are often strung three 
or four in a bunch, according to size, and an ordinary 
string may contain two or three hundred. In washing 
natural black tips it is advisable to use a brush on them 
during the first rinsing to remove all particles of soap 
therefrom. 



M OSTRICH FEATHER DYEING. 

SHADING. 

Shading from dark to light colors is the result of 
submerging one portion of the feather in the bath and 
withholding the balance. Great care and not a little 
skill is needed to produce a satisfactory result. There 
are various wajs of handling the goods, covering up 
the portions to remain the light shade or holding them 
out with the hands. Spotted or speckled feathers are 
produced by first dyeing the light shade that you desire 
to be spotted, and then wrapping around a round stick 
with cord, according to the size you desire to have the 
spots, you will regulate the weight of cord used. After 
having bound the cord tightly around the feather and 
stick, which must then be tied firmly to keep from slip- 
ping, pass through boiling water for a few seconds for 
the purpose of expanding the wood and contracting the 
cord, thereby making the cord much tighter. After 
you have made them whatever dark color you desire, 
take out, starch and pass through dry starch ; then re- 
move cord and dry your feathers, when you will find 
that the portion covered by the cord will be the light 
shade, and the feathers have the appearance of being 
dotted all over. 

Natural blacks or grays can be speckled as follows : 
Go through the same preparations of binding around 



OSTRICH FEATHER DYEING. 95 

stick with cord and degrading or bleaching them white. 
The result will be that the portion covered with cord 
will be same as before entering the bath, a black or dark 
brown, and the body of the feathers will be white. 
Should you desire the feathers dyed any light color to 
contrast with the dark spots ; before removing the cord, 
mix your bath and dye as per recipe, dry as before di- 
rected, and the result is very beautiful. Some very 
nice effects are produced in shading by taking natural 
grays or bioucs, that is, feathers that are one portion 
white and the balance in spots, black. 



PARING, STEAMING AND CURLING. 

Feathers that have just come out of the dyehouse 
for the first time require paring, which consists in re- 
moving the quill from the inner portion of the feather, 
thereby making the feathers more elastic. The feathers 
must first be thoroughly dried ; they are then taken, 
one at a time, held between the thumb and two fore fin- 
gers of the left hand, while, with a knife held in the 
right, the inner quill is rapidly removed close to the 
flues or fibres. This branch of the business is in itself 
a trade, and requires a great amount of skill and cau- 
tion to prevent cutting through the quill. The feather 



96 OSTRICH FEATHER DYEING. 

can be made still more limber by scraping the quill 
with a piece of glass. Of course, this process of par- 
ing the quill is only used in new work. In re-dying old 
feathers it is never needed ; in old work it is only nec- 
essary to dry up thoroughly, steam and curl. A great 
many have no knowledge of what relation steaming has 
to the finishing of feathers. It has the effect of making 
all the flues lie perfectly straight beside each other, and 
also dampens the feathers just enough to assist the 
curler in her work. 

It is necessary to have a steamer made as follows : 
get a kettle that will hold about one gallon or more of 
water, made out of plain tin, with a spout commencing 
at the base about two inches in width and tapering up 
to a half inch in width at top. The spout should be 
about eighteen inches in length ; the total cost should 
not be more than one dollar. Never have it more than 
half full of water, and j^ou can boil it on either an ordi- 
nary stove or common gas or oil stove. 

You may ask why steam from the boiler, or out of 
an ordinary tea-kettle would not answer ? It is too wet. 
Instead of having the desired effect it wets the 
flues, while the other dampens it iust enough. The 
steam emitted from the steam kettle is drier than any 
other. 



OSTRICH FEATHER DYEING. 97 

When the steam is passing through the tube take 
hold of the feathers by either end and pass backward 
and forward for a few seconds about two inches above 
the top of pipe, and lay down perfectly flat, one on top 
of the other. Curling is a trade that can only be thor- 
oughly mastered by practice ; the principles can be 
taught, but only practice will make perfect. It does 
not, however, require a great while. I have known per- 
sons that within three months had become first-class 
curlers, practicing a short time each day. 

The feather is held between the first and second fin- 
ger and thumb of the left hand and a few flues taken up 
at a time with the knife held in the right hand, and 
gently drawn along the round dull edge of the knife, 
and allowed to drop in a half circle ; begin at the bot- 
tom of the right hand side of the feather, work up to 
the top and around and down the other side ; and in 
laying up take up about three flues at a time, skipping 
about six. Feminine fingers are generally better 
adapted to this work than others, and, in fact, it is more 
of a woman's work than a man's. 

Tips are generally bent and branched. You can 
give the feathers a nice droop by taking the quill be- 
tween the thumb and fore-finger, and with the thumb 
pressing the quill through between the first and second 



98 OSTRICH FEATHER DYEING. 

finger. Begin about the middle of the feather, and, 
shifting about a quarter inch at a time, pass swiftly up 
towards the top, when the feathers will have a very 
beautiful droop. Plain wire stems can be used. Take 
thin wire, cut about five inches in length, and twist one 
end of it on stem or quill of your feathers so as to 
hold ; then take tissue paper, cut in strips about a half 
inch wide, and in color corresponding with the shade of 
feathers ; wrap it around wire to entirely cover it up, 
and then branch tips, two or three in a bunch, as suits 
your fancy. 



OSTRICH FEATHER DYEING. 



NOTE OF THE PUBLISHER. 

The old maxim, that " seeing is believing," applies 
perhaps nowhere more than in dyeing. All those who 
have availed themselves of the opportunity to see the 
method of dyeing ostrich feathers practically executed 
before their eyes by the author, as described in the fore- 
going pages, are satisfied of and willingly testify to its 
superiority over any of the methods heretofore known, 
practiced and often acquired at the cost of much 
money, time and trouble, and which, in many cases, 
when put to the practical test, failed to give the desired 
results. Yet there are probably many more disbeliev- 
ers than believers in any new method, however freely 
and truthfully certified to, who mistrust the quick work 
of our new processes of ostrich feather dyeing, and 
who would rather prefer to operate after a somewhat 
slow but (in their opinion) therefore surer, older meth- 
od. They shall not be disappointed by perusing our 



100 OSTRICH FEATHER DYEING. 

book and in looking up something which they would 
want to try in practice, and for them especially we sup- 
plement our book with the following Appendix, con- 
taining a number of practically tested recipes for dye* 
ing ostrich feathers. 



A PPENDIX. 



OSTRICH FEATHER DYEING. 103 



GENERAL REMARKS. 



The cultivated taste of the present age, requiring 
a large variety of natural and artificially produced or 
embellished material for adornment, employs almost 
any kind of bird's feathers, either in their natural col- 
oring or dyed. None of them, however, are used in the 
condition as they are plucked from the body of the live 
or dead bird, but all must undergo a cleaning process,, 
which not only serves to improve their appearance, but 
is an exceedingly essential requisite for the preser- 
vation of the material from decay and the attacks 
of moth and other insects, and is. above all, the first 
condition and indispensable preparatory operation for 
dyeing feathers, whether the costly feather of the os- 
trich or the common feather of our domestic chicken or 
pigeon. The cleaning or washing * process is the same 
for all kinds of feathers ; the ostrich feather, however, 
requires drying after every treatment in a bath, and a 



104 OSTRICH FEATHER DYEING. 

special operation for the purpose of opening the fine 
flues, which gives the plumage of the ostrich its charac- 
teristic and distinguishing beauty and rich, downy ap- 
pearance of luxurious softness. 

The feathers of the ostrich, which are used for 
dress-feathers, are taken from the wings and tail of the 
bird, whose spurred wings, by their peculiar construc- 
tion render it entirely unfit for flight. The wings 
seem rather only fit to serve for the purpose of holding 
the body of the bird in equilibrium while running, and 
of preventing it from sinking to any depth into the 
loose sand of the deserts, which are the home of the os- 
trich. The natural colors of the ostrich feathers are 
white, black and gray, or rather a dark drab. They are, 
therefore, sorted according to their natural color, to be 
bleached white, or dyed in light colors, or to be used 
for dark shades. Practical men in the general dyeing 
business, and in garment dyeing or re-dyeing, hold that 
it is unnecessary to bleach, respectively strip, the mate- 
rial for d} T eing dark colors, and garment dyers strip 
their material only to a certian extent, so as to leave 
upon it a bottom of color which they can advanta- 
geously use for their new dye. This method appears 
correct, if as " practical " as all that is designated, 
which results in a saving of expense or labo* ; but it is 



OSTRICH FEATHER DYEING. 105 

evident that a clear color of the highest possible beauty 
can never be obtained upon a bottom of a different hue ; 
the bottom color will always, more or less, show and 
impair the purity of the topping color ; but compound 
or mixed colors can be thus produced in an advanta- 
geous manner and to good effect, if the color of the 
bottom enters into their composition. The same is un- 
questionably the case with ostrich feathers, and the 
dyer is often compelled and must be prepared to bleach 
the gray or black and white feathers in order to dye 
them any light shade. The bleaching of naturally 
purely black feathers is probably but seldom required, 
as these are ordinarily left as nature has made them, but 
merely cleaned to heighten their beauty and gloss. 

Owing to the delicate nature of the material, the dye 
ing of ostrich feathers bears much similarity to that of 
silk ; both being high in price, carelessness and negli- 
gence in their treatment is apt to entail heavy losses. 
The utmost cleanliness of all utensils is an absolute re- 
quirement ; dyestuffs, drugs and chemicals must never 
be added to baths in substance, but always in solution, 
and never while the material is in the bath ; but the 
material must be taken up while the dyestuff or salt, 
etc., solution is being added to the bath, and only re- 
entered after stirring well. Solutions, as well as decoc- 



106 OSTRICH FEATHER DYEING. 

tions, must always be filtered, respectively strained, 
before adding them to the dye bath, even if they have 
been prepared beforehand, because any undissolved or 
solid particle of substance deposited upon the feathers 
would necessarily produce a spot or mark of a darker or 
lighter shade, as the case may be, according to the char- 
acter of the undissolved substance. Although alkalies 
and heat are applied and necessarj r for washing or 
scouring, that is, cleaning and ungreasing the feathers, 
strong alkaline and excessive heat operating together 
are as fatal for feathers as they are for any other animal 
fibre, — wool or silk, — and strong heat applied to dry 
feathers is apt to irretrievably ruin them. The soap with 
which feathers are to be treated, must, therefore, be as 
neutral as possible, and if recipes speak of "boiling" 
the feathers, it must be understood in the sense as in 
wool-dyeing, that is, to apply a heat near the boiling 
point, when the baths begin to throw up bubbles, but 
not actually boil. 

That the water used for any purpose in ostrich 
feather dyeing, for washing, bleaching, dyeing or rinsing, 
must be perfectly clean, needs hardly to be men- 
tioned. 



OSTRICH FEATHER DYEING. 107 

UTENSILS. 

The utensils required for feather dyeing are of a 
very simple character, few and inexpensive. For small 
establishments an ordinary stove, a common wash-boiler, 
to have constantly hot water on hand, an ordinary 
wash tub, a white china wash-basin for dyeing, a clean 
board for starching and a few bottles, together with a 
small tin pan or kettle and funnel, for making solutions 
and decoctions and filtering them, is all that is necessary 
besides the work table. More recently, flat, oval upper 
pans, tinned for special purposes, have been introduced 
as dye-vessels, which are neatly provided with a moveable 
perforated false-bottom, and are heated either upon a 
direct fire, or a gas jet, or by direct steam. In large 
establishments copper pans are generally used, for the 
better grades of ostrich feathers especially, and for ordi- 
nary goods wooden tubs, both heated by steam. Where 
wooden tubs are used, several of them are set apart for 
the color most in demand, such as black, brown, gray, 
mode, etc. 



PREPARATION OF THE FEATHERS. 

The bundles received from the dealer being opened, 
the feathers are sorted according to color and size, and 



108 OSTRICH FEATHER DYEING. 

those for white and light colors, to be bleached, are laid 
from those of dark colors, which are ordinarily not 
bleached, that is, the black or gray ones. When going 
to work the feathers are put on strings, that is, they are 
firmly tied singty, about an inch apart from one another, 
and about an inch above the end of the quill, 20 or 
25 with one string, seldom more, as they would make 
the bundle too thick and unhandy. The feathers are then 
ready for the steep, which operation ought always and 
for any method be the first step of treatment before pro- 
ceeding to washing, scouring and bleaching proper. 

For this purpose a strong solution of soap is made in 
boiling water; when cooled down to about 150° F., it is 
well stirred, the feathers entered and left in the bath 
over night. The temperature may be kept up over night. 
It is necessary, however, to lay the feathers down in the 
steep so that the liquid can reach every part of them, 
and to keep them well immersed in the steep, for which 
purpose it is advisable to weigh them down by clean 
sticks of wood or some other means. Instead of soap, 
soda may be used for the steep ; taking about one and 
one-half ounces of soda crystals to one gallon of water. 

By the steep the impurities, dirt and grease, cover- 
ing the feather are loosened, and thereby the following 
cleaning operations materially facilitated. 



OSTRICH FEATHER DYEING. 109 

CLEANING AND BLEACHING OP FEATHERS. 

The ostrich feathers, like all material taken from the 
covering of the animal body, wool, hair, etc., which are 
embellished by dyeing for the use of man or woman in 
dress, contain by nature a certain amount of fat, and in 
their raw condition are more or less covered with dust, 
dirt and a greasy exudation, which must be removed 
for dyeing ; that is, they are scoured or washed and then 
bleached or whitened, because the feathers, like all other 
so-called white animal matter, have always a faint 
yellowish tint, sometimes yellowish spots which cannot 
be removed without injury to the material, but obliter- 
ated by bleaching, which, in the case of white feathers, is 
called bleaching or whitening. The bleaching of gray 
and black feathers and the stripping or decoloring of 
dyed feathers are different operations. 

For scouring or washing, novel methods are recom- 
mended, which, however, differ from one another very 
little, and are, on the whole, represented by the follow- 
ing: Prepare a good hand-warm bath (100-120° F ), 
in which dissolve two ounces Marseilles soap in per 
gallon of water and beat up to a good lather. Enter 
feathers and rub them well, string for string, by hand. 
They may even be taken upon a wash-board and rubbed 



110 OSTRICH FEATHER DYEING. 

with a brush, which does not hurt them, notwithstanding 
their delicate structure, because the soap steep has given 
them great elasticity and resistance to the manipulation. 
Continue the operations until the tank is exhausted and 
dirty ; then give another fresh bath of the same compo- 
sition and temperature ; treat the feathers as in the first 
bath and rinse them perfectly clean from every particle 
of soap in two or three luke-warm (100°) waters; for, 
every trace of soap remaining upon the feathers will 
hinder the dj e from running up and cause uneven colors, 
or, upon white feathers, yellow stains. Then prepare a 
cold bath with solution of bioxolate of potash (one-eighth 
to one-sixth ounce of salt to one gallon), enter feathers, 
pass them in the bath for 15 — 20 minutes, take up and 
rinse them in cold water three to four times to remove 
the salt. For feathers which have to remain white, the 
latter bath is composed of one and one-quarter ounces 
bioxolate of potash and one and one-eighth ounces oxalic 
acid to one gallon of water, and the feathers laid down 
in it until perfectly white ; when they are taken out and 
rinsed clean from acid in luke-warm water. 

The feathers being rinsed clean from the oxolate of 
potash bath, if destined for white, are then whitened, or 
rather blued , for the purpose of covering the yellowish 
tint above mentioned. To this purpose a cold bath is 



OSTRICH FEATHER DYEING. Ill 

prepared with only so much methyl violet or methylene 
blue, as to give the water a very faint tint. To ascer- 
tain whether this is the case, a white china plate is held 
about a foot below the surface of the bath, when its ap- 
pearance will show the shade of blue that will be pro- 
duced by the bath. The feathers are then entered and 
gently agitated in the bath until they have the desired 
tint. 



DRYING OR STARCHING. 

The feathers coming from the bioxolate of potash 
bath, after rinsing, or from the blue baths, are squeezed 
out by pulling them through the hand, and pressing 
them between the laps of a dry clean piece of white 
muslin, whereupon they are immediately passed through 
a bath of raw starch, that is, unboiled starch, consisting 
of about one-half pound of starch to a gallon of water. 
After passing them through the hand the feathers are 
then again pressed between the cloth ; then the waves 
are lightly drawn by hand over the stems, and the 
feathers either beaten between the hands or upon a clean 
board over a stove until diy, or they are agitated by 
hand or by a suitable mechanical contrivance before an 
open fire or gas-jet, or hung in a warm room and fre- 



112 OSTRICH FEATHER DYEING. 

quently shaken until dry, that is, until all starch has 
dropped out; and finally the remaining starch is beaten 
out between the hands or upon the board by means of a 
soft brush. By this treatment the feathers are not only 
dried, but the flues opened besides. It needs not to be 
specially mentioned, that the feathers are dried, or 
finished, as it were, in the same manner after dyeing. 

In case the flues are not sufficiently opened, although 
all the starch has been beaten out, dip the feathers into 
clean benzine and swing or agitate them until dry, which 
takes place in a few minutes, while the flues are opened 
in the most perfect manner. For white feathers the 
benzine may be blued, but in this case, they must be 
dried between muslin. 



BLEACHING OR DECOLORING NATURALLY 
GRAY FEATHERS. 

The feather dyer is often required to dye light colors 
upon naturally gray or even black feathers. As above 
remarked, the natural color would show even under dark 
colors d}-ed upon them to a greater or less extent, 
unless they are first decolorized, that is, their natural 
color destroyed or blackened. Much more necessary is, 
therefore, this operation for light colors to be dyed 






OSTRICH FEATHER DYEING. 113 

upon naturally colored ostrich feathers. The only- 
known chemical agent affecting such a bleach to nearly 
white is peroxyd of hydrogen or oxygenated water. 
For bleaching ostrich feathers a bath is prepared of 
peroxyd of hydrogen to which so much liquid ammonia 
is added as to give the bath a sharp pungent odor. The 
feathers, which must be previously cleaned as above 
mentioned, and well rinsed, are entered and left im- 
mersed in the bath until they have assumed a nearly 
white cream color, whereupon the feathers are taken 
up and thoroughly rinsed or laid down in running water 
until every trace of ammonia has disappeared. It must 
be observed, however, that only acid aniline colors can 
be dyed upon such decolorized feathers and that in dye- 
ing only a moderate heat must be applied. 

Dr. P. Ebell, of Linden, near Hanover, one of the 
first and still largest manufacturers of peroxyd of hydro- 
gen, writes on the subject of feather bleaching as fol- 
lows : The assorted and picked feathers are cleaned 
from dirt and fat with soap and water by means of soft 
brushes, which operation is continued until the feathers 
(after drying) are readily wetted by water ; when they 
are laid down for some time in pure water. The liquids 
are removed from the feathers by a centrifugal machine 
or a wringer (the latter is evidently meant for ordinary 



9 



114 OSTRICH FEATHER DYEING. 

feathers, other than ostrich feathers). Mix in a clean 
wooden tub twenty litres peroxyd of hydrogen (Koenigs- 
wseter & Ebell) with four hundred and fifty grammes 
ammonia 20° B. (=0 9 sp. gra.) and heat to 34 
C, by a leaden steam pipe at the bottom of the tub. 
Enter 5 kilo, cleaned feathers, which work by hand and 
turn every hour. In twenty four hours the bleach is 
completed. If pure white feathers are wanted, give a 
second bath, but for a shorter period. The bleached 
feathers are carefully removed from the bleaching bath 
and laid down, for an hour and a half, in a cold bath of 
one hundred litres water containing one hundred 
grammes sulphuric acid 66° B., and then completely 
lixiviated in pure, soft water. While moist (after 
squeezing) they are then passed through a milk of un- 
boiled starch which is lightly blued with aniline blue or 
violet, and slowly dried, in the air or in a warm room, 
nnder repeated shaking to prevent the flues from stick- 
ing together. , After removing the starch by beating, 
the feathers are ready for curling, etc. 



PEROXYD OF HYDROGEN. 

This most valuable bleaching agent is a contraction 
of hydrogen and oxygen, of the formula H0 2 , sp. 



OSTRICH FEATHER DYEING. 115 

grv. 1.45 (chemically given), or 94.12 per cent, oxygen 
with 5 88 per cent, hydrogen. It consists in a limpid, 
syrupous liquid, of characteristic color, and when heated 
to 15° C, is decomposed into water and oxygen, upon 
which property its great bleaching power is based. Ex- 
periments to reduce it to a solid form by refrigeration 
and pressure have thus far been unsuccessful. The 
commercial article is somewhat modified by the addition 
of water to prevent its ready decomposition under the 
influence of a w r arm temperature. For the same reason 
it is advisable to always keep it in a cool place. 



LIGHT BLUE. 

I. To dye this delicate color well, special care must be 
taken in cleaning the feathers, for which purpose only 
olive-oil soap of the best quality, with a little ammonia, 
ought to be employed. When they are perfectly clean 
and no more grease upon the stems 3 rinse them first in 
one or two lukewarm waters, then in cold water until 
the last trace of soap is removed. Then fill your basin 
or dyeing pan three-quarters full of cold water ; put in, 
for a dozen feathers, one hundred and eighty grammes 
(about eight ounces) of raw starch in a sufficient quan- 
tity of good indigo extract to give the starch-bath the 



116 OSTRICH FEATHER DYEING. 

desired shade. Enter the feathers and work them 
gently until they are completely dyed, that is, for about 
fifteen or twenty minutes. Then take them out, squeeze 
out the starch by putting them between the fingers and 
thumb of your hand, and shake them before the stove, 
or in a well-warmed chamber until dry. While drying, 
beat them from time to time upon the board, or between 
the hands to remove the adhering starch. 

II. Prepare a lukewarm bath acidulated with a few 
drops of sulphuric acid, so as to give a faint sour taste, 
to which add, according to shade, solution of methyl 
blue B. (Actien Gesellschaft fuer Anilin Fabrikation, 
Berlin). Enter the feathers and leave them in the bath 
until cold, or until uniformly d3'ed. 

Note. — Some dyers use alkaline blue, which is not, 
however, recommendable, because alkaline baths, as 
above remarked, are injurious to the feathers and must 
be avoided as much as possible. 

III. Prepare bath of lukewarm water, dissolve in it 
about one-half ounce tartaric acid per one quart, and add 
one ounce indigo carmine per quart of liquid ; stir well, 
enter the leathers and agitate or lay down in the bath 
until the required shade is obtained. This color shows 
little fastness to light and air, which can be improved, 
however, by adding to the dye bath one-quarter ounce 



OSTRICH FEATHER DYEING. 117 

alum per quart. The shade being obtained, take up the 
feathers and pass, without rinsing, through raw starch 
milk ? dry and beat as described. 

Light blues, as is easy to understand^ can only be 
dyed upon white feathers for the mos'„ delicate shades ; 
nearly white^ or developed gray feathers may be used 
for the shades approaching a light medium blue. 



NAVY BLUE. 

L For this color naturally gray or semi-bleached 
feathers may be used. It requires a mordant, like wool. 
For this purpose prepare a bath of forty per cent, (of 
the weight of feathers) tannin at 161° F., enter the 
feathers and agitate them from time to time for three 
hours. Then take them up, drain and squeeze them out, 
enter a cold bath of pyrolignite of iron (black liquor) 
marking 5° B., and work them for half hour; take them 
out, drain and squeeze, and then expose them, well 
spread out upon the strings, for one hour to the action 
of the air. Then rinse and dye upon a fresh warm bath 
with a mixture of aniline blue and a little methyl violet, 
using about twenty per cent, of the weight of feathers. 
Add the dj^estuff in the beginning only in small doses 
and slowly in order to prevent the production of a 



118 OSTRICH FEATHER DYEING. 

bronzy, undesirable lustre upon the stem, as is often the 
case in dying with aniline dyestuffs if they are added to 
the bath in too large doses. 

II. Prepare a hot bath, to which add as much indigo 
carmine as to bring the color of the bath pretty near the 
shade to be produced. Enter the feathers and agitate 
them in the bath for one hour. Then take up the 
feathers, add alum and a solution of cloth-blue S. to the 
bath, re-enter the feathers and work them while raising 
the temperature to boiling point, when the steam or 
gas is turned off, or the pan removed from the fire, and 
the feathers allowed to lie for fifteen or twenty minutes 
longer in the bath. They are then taken out, rinsed, 
starched and dried and beaten. 

III. Have the feathers properly cleaned and well 
rinsed from the soap, respectively soda. Gray feathers 
may be used unbleached, but a purer color is obtained 
upon them when bleached. Prepare a hot bath, to 
which so much sulphuric acid is added, that it has a 
feeble sour taste ; add the solution of two per cent, (of 
the weight of feathers), navy blue, one per cent, fast 
blue or black, and one eighth per cent, acid fuchsine. 
Stir well, enter the feathers, manipulate 'while raising 
the temperature to boiling point, but not to actual boil- 
ing, continue at this temperature for one half hour ; then 



OSTRICH FEATHER DYEING. 119* 

stop off the steam, lay the feathers down in the bath 
until cool, lift and dry as usual. 



GENDARME BLUE. 

This color requires a pure bottom, that is, naturally 
white or bleached. After cleaning, respectively wash- 
ing in warm soap, which must not even be omitted with 
bleached feathers, and thorough rinsing, prepare a bath 
and dye as for dyeing light blue with indigo carmine. 
Then add some aniline green and navy blue to the bath y 
re-enter the feathers which have been taken up before 
making the addition, work them well while raising the 
temperature to the boiling point ; continue at this tem- 
perature for one-half hour longer, lift, rinse, starch and 
dry as usual. 



PLUM OR PRUNE. 

I. For this color, which has in itself a subdued tone 
of brown, or has the color of gray ostrich feathers, such 
naturally colored feathers may be used unbleached, but 
well cleaned and rinsed before dyeing. Prepare a luke- 
warm bath, to which add about one-half ounce tartaric 



120 OSTRICH FEATHER DYEING. 

acid to per quart of water and solution of methyl violet 
6 B., according to shade, with a little aniline ponceau or 
fast brown for toning. While working the feathers, 
raise the temperature and continue dyeing at nearly 
boiling for one-half hour ; then take out, wash and 
dry. 
Or, 

II. Prepare a boiling hot bath with alum, sulphuric 
acid and tartar; to which add acid fuchsine ; enter the 
feathers, and dye one-half hour to a blue red, which 
tone, by the addition of decoction of logwood, continue 
at nearly boiling heat for one-half hour longer, lift, rinse 
lightly, starch, beat and dry. 

III. Take a hot bath, upon which violet has been 
dyed, and refresh it with some solution of methyl violet, 
5 B., and a few drops of sulphuric acid, or prepare a 
hot bath with the same ingredients, and indigo car- 
mine, according to shade; or, instead of indigo carmine, 
indigo substitute, fast blue B. A., and indigotine; pre- 
ferably, however, use indigo carmine, which develops 
more slowly, and therefore is surer to give better results, 
while the aniline dyestuffs run up more rapidly, and are 
apt to dye unevenly, unless their solutions are added 
gradually and the feathers handled quickly and care- 
fully. 



OSTRICH FEATHER DYEING. 121 



LIGHT YELLOW. 



I. Light yellow is comparatively very little in 
demand for ostrich feathers, and scarcely used for trim- 
ming hats of children and young misses as a set-off for 
other colors. To produce it, prepare a pretty hot bath 
with a little sulphuric acid, so as to give it a slightly 
acid taste, add very little quinoline yellow, lay down the 
feathers in the bath for one-half hour, turning and agi- 
tating them from time to time, lift, rinse and dry. For 
this color, as well as for light blues and roses, the feath- 
ers must be perfectly white. (For this dye the quino- 
line yellow manufactured by the Actien Gesellschaft fuer 
Anilin Fabrikation, Berlin, is specially suitable). As 
the purity of all light shades of delicate colors greatly 
depends upon the purity of the water, it is advisable to 
bring the bath, before preparing it, to boil with some 
bran and chloride! of tin and skim it off well. 



MEDIUM YELLOW. 

Various shades of yellow can also be produced with 
the old natural dyestuffs, which are not, however, equal 
in brilliancy to the foregoing described colors. The 
feathers must be bleached for these as well as for any 



122 OSTRICH FEATHER DYEING. 

clear color, which would be materially impaired by an 
impure bottom ; still developed grays may be employed. 
After scouring and thoroughly rinsing the feathers, pre- 
pare a cold bath of alum, about one ounce to one gallon 
of clear water, or of acetic acid; lay the feathers down 
until well opened, so that the liquid can uniformly act 
upon all parts, for one hour. Then take them out, 
squeeze and centrifugate them, and dye the shade upon 
a fresh warm bath with the required quantity of flavine, 
decoction of color or of fustic ; lift, rinse and starch as 
usual 

Or, dissolve a sufficient quantit}^ of turmeric is boil- 
ing water, filter and enter the feathers while the filtrate 
is still well hot. Agitate them for five minutes, then 
take them up, add to the bath a small quantity of tar- 
taric acid, this to promote its dissolution ; then re-enter 
the feathers, work them again for five minutes, lift, rinse 
in cold water, and dry. 

If these colors are to have a light reddish or warmer 
tone, add, when nearly done, some anotto to the dye 
bath. 



DARK YELLOW. 

Bleached grays answer for this color as well as nat- 
urally white feathers. Scour and rinse them well. Pre- 



OSTRICH FEATHER DYEING. 123 

pare a bath, feebly acidulated with sulphuric acid, and 
add the filtered solution of two and one-half per cent, of 
the weight of leathers, dark yellow, (manufactured by 
the Leipziger Anilin Fabrik, formerly Bayer & Kegel). 
Enter the feathers in the cold and work them diligently 
until the color is well up, then raise the temperature 
slowly to 170° P., dye to shade, lift, rinse in clear cold 
water, starch and dry. 

II. A new light yellow, which is fast to lighx; and air, 
is obtained by products of Leonhardt & Co., at Man- 
heim, viz: redarine and acme yellow. Add to a hot 
bath of 110-190° F., a quite small quantity of redarine 
and still less acme yellow ; enter the feathers, manipu- 
late for one-half hour, take out, rinse and dry them with 
starch, and beat well out. This color being extremely 
sensitive, the purification of the water for the bath is as 
necessary as the most scrupulous cleanliness of utensils 
and workshops. 



GOLDEN YELLOW. 

I. The feathers being scoured and rinsed clean of 
soap, prepare a bath of five per cent., of the weight of 
feathers, bisulphate of soda, add solution (filtered) of 
azo orange, according to shade. Enter the feathers 



124 OSTRICH FEATHER DYEING. 

at 120° F. ; heat up slowly to 170° F., while working 
the feathers ; lift when the shade is obtained, squeeze 
out, starch and dry. 

II. Prepare a bath with three per cent, (of the 
weight of the feathers) Glauber salt and one per cent, 
sulphuric acid. Enter the feathers at 100-120° F., after 
adding to the bath the solution of one per cent, golden 
yellow S. (of Gust. Doerr, Frankfort-on-Main), work the 
feathers repeatedly during one half hour, when they all 
have assumed a rich, nourished color; take up, rinse 
lightly, starch and beat them dry. 



OLD GOLD. 

Have the naturally white or decolorized gray feath- 
ers well washed in soap and rinsed clean from it. Pre- 
pare a hot bath at 170° F., to which add so much ana- 
line cream as to color it dark reddish yellow. Enter 
the feathers and agitate them from five to ten minutes, 
according to the shade desired. Then take them up, 
add some sulphuric acid to the bath, re-enter the feath- 
ers, work for two minutes; then lift, rinse and dry. 
The bath can be preserved for further use. 



OSTRICH FEATHER DYEING. 125 

GRAY. 

So unpretending this color appears, so difficult is it 
to produce, and it requires a considerable amount of 
practice and good judgment to bring out a good color 
from the beginning, as very little too much or too little 
will spoil a color either in tone or in shade. A very 
good logwood gray, which with proper attention seldom 
fails to turn out satisfactory, is made as follows : Pre- 
pare a hot bath, to which add a small quantity of decoc- 
tion of logwood ; enter the feathers and work them in 
the bath for fifteen or twenty minutes, according to 
shade desired. Then take them up, add to the bath 
very little pyrolignite of iron, that is, only as much as 
to turn the color of the bath; re-enter the feathers, agi- 
tate them again for fifteen or twenty minutes in the 
liquid ; then lift, rinse and starch as usual. This color 
might be best described as dark ash gray. Instead of 
pyrolignite of iron, some solution of copperas may be 
used. It will be easily understood, that the more con- 
centrated the decoction of logwood is, the darker turns 
out the color, and it is in that respect particularly that 
the dyer has to use good judgment in producing shades 
from silver gray to dark ash gray. This color, besides, 
presents the advantage, that by topping it with solutions 



126 OSTRICH FEATHEI! DYEING. 

of blue, brown, yellow or green coal-tar dyestufls a great 
variety of mode colors can be produced. 



PEARL GRAY. 

After scouring and rinsing well, prepare a warm 
bath (100-120° F.) with five per cent., of the weight of 
feathers, bisulphate of soda, to which add solution of 
Victoria blue and of extract of archil, according to 
sample. Acid violet may be used, but requires a tem- 
perature near the boiling point, which ought to be 
avoided wherever possible in dyeing ostrich feathers. 
To be on the safe side, make the solutions of the dye- 
stuffs of medium concentration, use only the clear of 
them, or better filter the same, and add it slowly and 
gradually first in small doses, finally by drops, for which 
purpose the use of a burette with squeeze-cock is reccm- 
mendable. 



SILVER GRAY. 

Scour, respectively bleach, and rinse the feathers 
well clean, prepare a bath, work the solution of five per 
cent., of the weight of feathers, silver gray (Actein 
Gesellschaft fuer Anilin Fabrikation, Berlin), feebly 



OSTRICH FEATHER DYEING. 127 

acidulated with sulphuric acid ; enter the feathers in the 
cold, work well to make the color dye up evenly; then 
raise the temperature slowly under diligent working, to 
110° F , continue at this temperature for five to ten 
minutes, lift, rinse and dry. 



BROWN. 

The series of brown colors, partly produced by com- 
binations of spectrum colors, partly of direct brown 
dyestuffs, presents a large range of modifications and 
shades, from a light rust brown or buff to nearly black, 
blueish, yellowish, reddish, olive brown, etc., and is in 
this respect only inferior to the non-descript endless 
variety of modes. With the exception of the very 
lightest shades, which require perfectly white feathers, 
they can be dyed upon half- bleached, and the deeper 
shades upon unbleached gray feathers; the dyer, 
must, however, in the latter case, bear in mind, that the 
gray bottom color always influences to a certain degree, 
the tone of the color that is to be dyed upon it. Never- 
theless, as to the proportions of the dyestuffs to be em- 
ployed for a given tone or shade cannot be given, be- 
cause the tinctorial value of artificial dyestuffs is very 
changeable and not even constant with the same makers. 



128 OSTRICH FEATHER DYEING. 

Experience, skill and trial dyes must, therefore, guide 
the dyer in composing the baths for browns as well as 
for modes, the majority of the latter being modifications 
of brown. In general the following may be ob- 
served : 

I. After scouring the feathers and rinsing them per- 
fectly clean of the scouring material, whether soap or 
soda, prepare a bath of 170 to 190° F., to which add 
fifteen per cent., of the weight of feathers, bisulphate of 
soda, indigo carmine, extract of archil and azo yellow. 

According to the proportionally greater or smaller 
quantity of either dyestufT added to the dyebath either 
browns are obtained, or olives, Russia green, reseda, or 
a variety of modes. The trouble with all colors into 
whose compositions indigo carmine enters is, that this 
clyestuff requires a comparatively high temperature to 
run up, preferably a boiling bath, which, however, is 
decidedly objectionable with ostrich feathers. To 
avoid this difficulty, the new acid Victoria blue is used 
instead of indigo carmine, and fuchsine S. instead of 
extract of archil. Victoria blue dyes up readily at a 
moderate temperature. 

II. The feathers being scoured and rinsed clean, pre- 
pare a boiling bath with so much sulphuric acid as to 
give a feebly sour taste, and add fast aniline brown, 



OSTRICH FEATHER DYEING. 129 

turmeric, and indigo carmine or cloth-blue S., according 
to the tone and shade desired. Prepare the bath so 
that it shows exactly this tone of color which is to be 
d} r ed, and bring it to boil in order to produce a perfect 
mixture of the three dyestuffs, or rather their filtered 
solutions. Then chill the bath to about 120° F. ; enter 
the feathers, while raising the temperature in about fif- 
teen minutes to near the boiling point; then dye to 
shade, lift, rinse and dry. 

It is advisable, in order to obtain a level dye, to add 
not the whole amount of dyestuff solution required at 
one time, but at least in two times ; which rule 
altogether applies to all aniline dyestuffs, more or less, 
as they mostly run up very rapidly and are apt, there- 
fore, to give uneven dyes. 

If a yellowish tint is wanted, use a little azo yellow 
or azo orange; picric acid, which was formerly very 
freely used for this purpose, has been almost entirely 
abandoned. 



LIGHT BROWN. 

Clean and rinse them as usual, prepare a bath of 
110-190° F., with redarine, a trace of orange 0, and 
some acid green ; enter feathers and work for one-half 



130 OSTRICH FEATHER DYEING. 

hour, then lift, rinse and dry. By varying the propor- 
tions of dyestuffs, a series of modes is obtainable. (Dye- 
stuffs manufactured by Leonhardt & Co., of Mannheim). 



RUST BROWN. 

Prepare a slightly acidulated warm bath with three 
per cent., of the weight of feathers, fast aniline brown, 
one per cent, azo yellow, one percent, extract of indigo, 
and a little sulphuric acid ; enter the well scoured and 
rinsed feathers at 120-140° F., work the feathers for 
one-half hour, while slowly raising the temperature to 
the boiling point; continue dyeing at that degree of 
heat, but not boiling, for five minutes ; lift, rinse, starch 
and dry. 



RED BROWN. 

I. Scour and rinse well ; prepare a warm bath, in 
which dissolve three per cent., of the weight of feathers, 
alum, add twenty-five per cent, extract of archil, one 
and one half per cent, azo yellow, and if required for 
shade, one-half per cent, indigo carmine ; enter at 170° 
F., dye to shade while slowly raising the temperature to 
near the boiling point, continue at that temperature for 
ten to fifteen minutes longer; then lift, rinse and dn. 



OSTRICH FEATHER DYEING. 131 

Instead of indigo carmine, cloth-blue S. may be used, 
in which case enter at 120° and raise the temperature 
slowly, not above 190° F. Or, 

II. Prepare a bath at 190° F., add five per cent, bi- 
sulphate of soda, when dissolved, add solution of ex- 
tract of archil, fast yellow and indigo carmine as re- 
quired for the shade, and dye at that temperature to 
sample. Instead of archil, any red or orange azo dye- 
stuff may be used, preferably bordeaux. 



COFFEE BROWN. 

Have the feathers will cleaned and rinsed, bleaching 
being not required, prepare a bath with three per cent, 
alum (of the weight of feathers), at 110° F., add indigo 
carmine, bordeaux and azo yellow, according to sample, 
and dye to shade while slowly raising the temperature 
to near the boiling point, but bring not to boil, but con- 
tinue until the indigo carmine is well up. A less fast 
color is obtained with archil, indigo carmine and picric 
acid. When finished dyeing, rinse, starch and dry as 
usual. 

The dyestuffs for brown being nearly the same for 
all shades, while the depth and tone of the color is pro- 
duced by differently proportioning the quantities of the 



132 OSTRICH FEATHER DYEING. 

different dyestuffs and the time of dyeing, it is advanta- 
geous to have the solutions of dyestuffs near by on 
hand ; it is advisable, however, if good work is intended, 
to always filter before using solutions which have been 
standing for some time. This precaution is necessary, 
because from most solutions, if allowed to stand for a 
day or longer, some dyestuff' which was not dissolved 
but only suspended in the liquid, separates out forming 
a more or less copious sediment which, if it passes into 
the dye bath, settles upon the feathers causing spots or 
streaks of a different shade than the rest of the feathers. 



PUCE. 



Scour and rinse the feathers well ; grays can be used 
in their natural color without bleaching. Prepare a 
warm bath, in which dissolve eighty per cent., of the 
weight of feathers, tartaric acid and eighty per cent. 
Glauber salt ; then add sixteen per cent, aniline fast 
brown, eight per cent, azo yellow, and sixteen per cent, 
induline or nigrosine, and bring the hath to a boil ; after 
a few minutes of boiling, chill by the addition of cold 
water, enter the feathers and work them at hand-heat 
for fifteen or twenty minutes until the color has become 
level; then bring the bath again to near the boiling 



OSTRICH FEATHER DYEING. 133 

point ; lay the feathers down in the bath, shut off the 
steam, or withdraw from the fire, and let the bath cool 
down. When cold, that is in about one or two hours, 
take out the feathers, rinse and dry. 



FAWN. 



Prepare a warm bath with five per cent, bisulphate 
of soda, add solutions of azo orange, acid violet and 
some archil cautiously in several doses until the bath 
has the desired color. Enter the scoured and rinsed 
feathers and agitate for fifteen or twenty minutes, to 
produce a level dye ; then raise the temperature slowly 
to 190-200° P., dye for a few minutes longer, lift, rinse 
and dry. 

By varying the proportions of the dyestuffs, drab, 
wood brown, lead color, etc., can be obtained, and olives 
by increasing the quantity of acid violet and omitting 
the extract of archil. 



CHESTNUT BROWN. 

Scour and rinse the feathers well ; natural grays may 
be used unbleached. Prepare a decoction of one and 
one quarter pound cudbear, and six ounces turmeric in 



134 OSTRICH FEATHER DYEING. 

two gallons of water, strain through a cloth and enter 
the feathers at hand heat (about 90-100° F.) ; work 
them for twenty or thirty minutes, or until they have 
attained a nourished garnet color. Then take them out, 
rinse, lay them down for five minutes in a cold solution 
of about six ounces copperas in one-half gallon of water, 
take them up and rinse in cold water. Then return to 
the first bath, operate for fifteen minutes at hand heat, 
enter again, after rinsing, the iron bath, and continue 
alternately dj^eing upon the two baths until the required 
shade is obtained. Rinse every time on shifting from 
one bath to the other, in clean water, and finally rinse 
well, starch and dry. 



HAVANNA. 

I. For this color it is advisable to use naturally 
white or bleached feathers, scour or wash them clean in 
soap and warm water and remove the soap by thor- 
oughly rinsing in two warm and one cold waters. Pre- 
pare a bath slightly acidulated with sulphuric acid, to 
which add eighty per cent., of the weight of feathers, 
tartaric acid, eight per cent, azo yellow, six per cent, 
fast brown, and three and a quarter per cent, acid green. 
Enter the feathers at 100-120° F., and manipulate at 



OSTRICH FEATHEK DYEING. 135 

that temperature for ten or fifteen minutes. Then 
raise the temperature to the boiling point (but do not 
boil), lay the feathers down in the bath for one-half to 
one hour, while the bath cools down, lift, starch and 
finish as usual. 

II. Prepare a bath slightly acidulated with sulphuric 
acid, bring to nearly boiling, add a concentrated solu- 
tion of orange S. and some acid green, enter the feathers- 
and dye to shade ; then pass them through a week oil- 
bath, and dry them, placed straight between several 
laps of clean muslin. 

Ill Prepare a bath of the decoction of twelve and a 
half per cent., of the weight of feathers, alum and 
twenty five per cent, turmeric ; strain, enter the feathers 
at 170-190° F., and let them lie in the bath over night. 
On the following day dye, at 100° F., with decoction of 
fustet, tone with decoction of logwood or of brazil, ac- 
cording to sample, starch and dry. 



MUSHROOM. 

I. For this elegant color take naturally white or 
bleached gray feathers, scour and rinse them well. 
Prepare a hot bath with five per cent., of the weight of 
feathers, bisulphate of soda, to which add, as required, 



136 OSTRICH FEATHER DYEING. 

filtered solutions of fast yellow, indigo carmine and pon- 
ceau G. Enter the feathers at 170° F., work them for 
ten or fifteen minutes and raise the temperature slowly 
to near the boiling point. Add the dyestuffs in small 
quantities gradually, making the additions only when 
the dyestuff of the bath has been completely absorbed, 
and then by drops so as to be able to correct the color 
without waste of dyestuff. Bear in mind, that the in- 
digo carmine dyes up slowly and requires a high 
temperature. An easier process is, therefore, the fol- 
lowing: 

II. After cleaning and rinsing well, prepare a bath 
at 170° F., with four per cent, bisulphate of soda, to 
which add gradually in small quantities, as required, 
some nigrosine, azo orange and a little mandarin or ni- 
grosine, alkaline blue and fuchsine S., rinse, starch and 
dry. 



LIGHT DRAB. 



Scour and rinse the feathers as usual ; bleached 
grays may be used. Prepare a bath with five per cent., 
of the weight of feathers, bisulphate of soda and the 
clear solutions of acid violet, azo orange and fuchsine 
S. ; add the dyestuff in small portions and finally by 



OSTRICH FEATHER DYEING. 137 

drops, until the bath has the desired shade of color; 
then enter the feathers and dye at 1T0 J F. to sample, 
squeeze or centrifugate, starch and dry. 



BEIGE. 



I. For this color take either naturally white or well- 
bleached gray feathers, scour or wash and rinse them 
clean. Prepare pretty thin solutions of aniline orange 
(chrysaniline) and violet, add very little of them at a 
time and finally by drops to the dyestuffs containing 
either five per cent, bisulphate of soda or a small dose 
of sulphuric acid ; enter the feathers at 145° F. and dye 
to shade at the same temperature, which will require 
about twenty or thirty minutes ; lift, rinse, squeeze and 
starch. 

II. Have the feathers well cleaned, respectively 
bleached, and rinsed. Prepare a hot bath (110-190° 
F.), with a little sulphuric acid, just enough to give it a 
slightly sour taste, add a few drops of solution of fast 
brown and a little more solution of acid green (both 
dyestuffs of the Farbwerke, formerly Meister, Lucius & 
Bruening, Hoechst-on-Main) ; take of them one or 
two drops, respectively two or three drops per gallon of 
water for a light shade and increase quantities propor- 



138 OSTRICH FEATHER DYEING. 

tionally for darker shades. Rinse after dying, starch 
and dry. 

III. Take white feathers or grays very well bleached 
to nearly white, scour and rinse them well. Prepare a 
bath of warm water, 100-120° F. and some vinegar so 
as to give it a distinct sour taste ; add to a basin full, or 
about one-half gallon of the bath a little solution of fast 
brown, one or two drops of indigo carmine, and a trace 
of turmeric. Lay the feathers down in the bath for fif- 
teen or twenty minutes and agitate them repeatedly in 
the liquid to make them level. 

For a Gray Beige, add a little nigrosine to the bath 
and proceed as above. 



MODES. 



For the modes it is impossible to give generally ap- 
plicable directions, as these colors are of an indefinitely 
varying character, consisting in modifications of other 
compound or mixed colors which are affected by some- 
times very trifling, unmeasureable additions of a toning 
dyesturT, and coloring effects are produced which cannot 
be described nor defined by names, but must be judged 
by the experienced eye of the dyer. Most of these 
colors are derived from grays or browns as above re- 



OSTRICH FEATHER DYEING. 139 

marked, and the safest way for the dyer is, to begin 
dyeing with light shades of the prevalent characteristic 
color and give them the peculiar tone by the addition of 
other colors by drops. The proportions of dyestuffs 
thus ascertained for light shades, are then easy to in- 
crease for deeper shades. It needs not to be remarked, 
that for these colors the feathers must be bleached, es- 
pecially for light and medium shades, and that, if un- 
bleached, grays are to be dyed in dark shades, the effect 
of the natural color must be considered in composing 
the dye. 

In general all modes are dyed upon a bath which is 
acidulated with bisulphate of soda, with azo orange, azo 
yellow, azo brown, acid violet, indigo carmine, solid 
blue or cloth blue, induline or nigrosine, archil or acid 
fuchsine For brown modes, solution of Bismarck 
brown may be added at the beginning, in which case the 
other dyestuffs serve only for giving the peculiar 
tone. 

For a yellowish green mode take orange 0, azo 
yellow, and solid blue (fast blue) ; for darker shades 
add a little violet 6B., or a few drops sulphate of in- 
digo. If alizarine dyestuffs are to be employed, use 
tartaric acid as mordant, but for neutral dyestuffs add 
also a little alum to the dyebath. 



140 OSTRICH FEATHER DYEING. 

For gray modes use the same dyestuffs as above 
excepting the orange, instead of which a blue-red dye 
stuff is to be employed, such as azo rubine, bordeaux 
fuchsine, etc., with the addition of a little acid green 
The bath must be acidulated with a little sulphuric acid 
or better with tartaric acid, or tartaric acid and alum 
and after dj-eing the feathers must be rinsed, starched 
and dried as usual. 

For particularly fast modes add only tartaric acid 
to the dyebath and no alum, and a few drops of solution 
of thio-scarlet, thio-rubine, and thio-brown ; for grays 
add a little azo yellow and sadden with solid blue. 
Alum does not agree with the thio dyestuffs which are 
manufactured by Dalil & Co., Barmin, and are fast 
against soap and light. Feathers dyed with these dye- 
stuffs which have become soiled, can be washed, there- 
fore, with neutral soap without injury to the color, but 
must naturally be dressed anew. 



KESEDA. 



Scour the white, respectively bleached feathers and 
rinse well. Prepare a bath with five per cent., of the 
weight of feathers, bisulphate of soda, to which add 
gradually and carefully the filtered solution of acid 



OSTRICH FEATHER DYEING. 141 

violet, fast yellow and fucbsine S., making the additions 
from the beginning in small quantities only, until the 
desired tone and shade are obtained ; then enter and 
work the feathers to sample at 173° F. 

It is for this dye particularly important that the bi- 
sulphate of soda used be crystallized, that is, pure bi- 
sulphate free from surplus sulphuric acid, while the 
commercial article is often nothing but a mixture of 
Glauber salt (sulphate of soda) into sulphuric acid, 
answer for this dye. 

A good reseda is also easily obtained by adding to 
the acidulated bath small quantities of decoction of log- 
wood and turmeric, so as to give a feeble bath. Enter 
the scoured and bleached feathers, after rinsing, at 110° 
F., work them for about fifteen minutes, until level, and 
sadden with a little solution of blue stone. Rinse, 
starch and dry as usual. 



ORDINARY GREEN. 

For two and one-half pounds of feathers boil two 
and one-half pounds of fustic for one-half hour with 
three quarts of water, pour the decoction off and boil 
the chips again for one half hour with three quarts of 
water, mix the two decoctions and strain. Add three 



142 OSTRICH FEATHER DYEING. 

ounces alum and one and one-half ounces tartar, enter 
the feathers well scoured and rinsed, and dye to shade 
at 170° F. Or, prepare thedyestuffs of decoction of 
fustic or turmeric, and indigo carmine, according to 
shade, enter at 170° F., work for one-half hour while 
slowly raising the temperature to near the boiling 
point, and dye to sample ; lift, rinse, squeeze and starch 
as usual. 



LIGHT GREEN. 

I. Scour, respectively bleach, and rinse the feathers. 
Prepare a hot bath with the solution of forty per cent., 
of the weight of feathers, tannin, and treat the feathers 
in it for 1 hour at 170°F. Prepare a bath with a filtered 
solution of methyl green, according to shade, tone, if a 
yellowish green is wanted, with the clear solution of 
picric acid, and dye to sample at 150° F. Lift, squeeze 
and starch without rinsing. 

II. A better color is obtained upon a lightly acidu- 
lated bath (with sulphuric acid) with acid green, mala- 
chite green, fast green, etc., that is, with the filtered solu- 
tions of these dyestuffs, added to the bath in quantities 
of from ten to twenty per cent, to suit the shade. 
Enter at 170° F. ; dye for twenty or thirty minutes, 



OSTRICH FEATHER DYEING. 143 

lift, rinse, squeeze and dry with starch. If a yellowish 
tone is wanted, add the clear solution of picric acid, or 
of acid yellow. 



MOSS GREEN. 

Scour and rinse the feathers well ; for dark shades 
Unbleached grays may be used. Prepare a feebly acid- 
ulated bath with sulphuric acid, at a temperature near 
the boiling point ; add turmeric freely and Guinea green 
G less. Enter the feathers and manipulate at the same 
temperature for fifteen or twenty minutes, according to 
the desired tone, re enter and dye to shade. 

By varying the proportions of the three dyestuffs, a 
great variety of green-brownish modes can be produced, 
which approach medium and dark bronzes the more the 
fast brown predominates in the composition of the 
color. 



BOG GREEN. 

This color is preferably dyed upon unbleached gray 
feathers. Scour and rinse them, prepare a decoction of 
green walnut husks or of sumac ; lay the feathers down 
in it for two hours, working them from time to time ; 



144 OSTRICH FEATHER DYEING. 

then add some decoction of logwood and dye to shade 
at 1T0° F., or indigo carmine and dye to shade while 
slowly raising the temperature to near the boiling point. 
Rinse, squeeze, starch and dry. 



GRASS GREEN. 

Scour, respectively bleach, and rinse the feathers. 
Prepare a boiling bath with turmeric and indigo car- 
mine ; chill, enter the feathers at 170° F., dye for one* 
half hour, raise the temperature slowly to near the boil- 
ing point and dye to shade, take up, rinse and pass 
through a handwarm bath of tartar ; lift, squeeze, 
starch and dry. 



RUSSIA GREEN. 

I. Scour the feathers as usual and rinse well. Pre- 
pare a bath slightly acidulated with sulphuric acid, add 
two per cent., of the weight of feathers, acid green and 
one per cent, aniline navy blue dissolved in warm water 
and filtered acid, according to sample, some filtered de- 
coction of turmeric or solution of fast yellow. Dye at 
170° F. to shade, lift rinse and dry with starch. 

II. Have the feathers well cleaned and rinsed. Pre- 
pare a bath twenty per cent., of the weight of feathers, 



OSTRICH FEATHER DYEING. 145 

new green, eight per cent, canarine, sixteen per cent, 
aniline blue black, sixty per cent, alum, and one-quarter 
litre sulphuric acid (for two and a half pounds of 
feathers). Bring the bath to a brisk boil, then chill 
with cold water, enter the feathers and work them for 
one hour ; finally sadden and tone by adding some de- 
coction of fustic and of logwood. Lift, rinse, squeeze, 
starch and dry. 

III. Prepare a sharp hot bath with a little sulphuric 
acid ; add Guinea green, according to shade, and tone 
by the addition of indigo carmine and turmeric ; for 
very deep shades add also some nigrosine or fast blue- 
black, dissolved and filtered. Enter as hot as the 
feathers can be handled, work for one half hour ; then 
raise the temperature slowly to near the boiling point 
and dye to shade. 

The bath for deeper shades being not exhausted can 
be preserved for further use, refreshed by suitable addi- 
tions of dyestufFs as required, but caution must be used 
as regards the subsequent additions of sulphuric acid, 
that not so much be added as to injure the feathers. 

For Russia green, especially the darker shades of it, 
naturally gray and even black feathers can be used un- 
bleached. 



146 OSTRICH FEATHER DYEING. 

ROSE. 

I. For this delicate color, as well as for the lightest 
shades of blue and pure yellow, absolutely white feath- 
ers must be used ; scour them carefully and rinse them 
perfectly clean from soap or soda, and have the dye- 
stufls well dissolved and the solutions filtered. Prepare 
a handwarm bath with a little tartaric acid or acetic 
acid, to which some solution of eosine, rhodamine, azo- 
eosine, safranine, coccine or ponceau 6 R. B. or ponceau 
R. R. Be particularly cautious in adding the dyestuff 
solutions gradually in small quantities, even by drops, 
to avoid over-dyeing, as by partly stripping of a too 
dark shade, a fine color can never be obtained, and the 
nature of the material demands that all unnecessary 
handling be avoided. After dyeing, rinse lightly, pass 
through starch and dry. The dj r es with the ponceaus 
are faster than those with eosine or safranine. 

II. Prepare a bath at hand heat with carthamine 
(extract of safnower) , well dissolved and filtered, which 
add very gradually in small quantities, taking up the 
feathers each time before making a fresh addition, until 
the desired shade is nearly obtained, then add a little 
tartaric acid to the bath, re-enter the feathers and dye 
to shade ; or d}^e first to shade upon the safflower bath, 



OSTRICH FEATHER DYEING. 147 

and then pass through a fresh, handwarni feeble bath of 
tartaric acid, which in this case can be used again for 
other colors, either as a fixing bath or in the composi- 
tion of the dye bath. 



RED. 



Scour and rinse the feathers well; grays must be 
bleached as near to white as possible, and these ought 
only to be dyed dark shades of red. Prepare a bath 
with twenty per cent., of the weight of feathers, bisul- 
phate of soda, and see, as in all cases, that it is well 
crystallized and dry. (Never use the article when it 
looks decayed, forms lumps or is moist). Add four to 
six per cent, azo red, according to the shade wanted, 
raise the temperature to 1*70° F. ? enter the feathers and 
work to shade ; take out, starch and dry. 



FAST ALIZARINE RED. 

I. Scour and rinse the white, respectively 
bleached gray, feathers and prepare a bath of boiling 
water with eight per cent., of the weight of feathers, 
alum, four per cent, tartaric acid, two or three per cent, 
oxalic acid, and three per cent, alizarine red ; let the 






148 OSTRICH FEATHER DYEING. 

bath boil for fifteen minutes, then let the temperature 
go down just below the boiling point. Lay down the 
feathers in the bath, which keep at near the boiling 
point for at least one hour before allowing it to go 
down to hand-heat; then continue for two or three 
hours longer, agitating the feathers from time to time ; 
lift, rinse, starch and dry. 

By using alizarine acid 2 A. bl. bl., a pure red, simi- 
lar to Turkey red is obtained. Alizarine 1 W. S. gives 
scarlets. If the feathers are passed, before rinsing, 
through a strong soap bath, pretty blue tones are pro- 
duced. 

II. For a fuller red, striking towards bordeau, pre- 
pare a well concentrated boiling bath in the same manner 
with three per cent, bichromate of potash, one and one- 
half to two per cent, tartaric acid, one per cent, oxalic 
acid, and eight per cent, alizarine red 2 A. bl. bl. When 
all is dissolved, let the temperature go down below the 
boiling point, enter the feathers, and proceed as 
above. 



SCARLET. 

I. For this color naturally white feathers are prefer- 
ably used, but well bleached grays may also be em- 






OSTRICH FEATHER DYEING. 149 

ployed ; scour and rinse well. Then fill your pan with 
boiling water, add a few handfuls of bran, let it well 
boil up, remove the bran from the bath and rub the 
feathers in the bath as in washing ; then pass them 
three times through clean, cold water. While the 
feathers are draining, prepare another fresh bath of 
lukewarm water, to which add a little chloride of tin 
and, for one pound of feathers, about two pinches of 
starch and ninety grammes cochineal ; then bring the 
bath to boil and let it gently boil for eight or ten min- 
utes, shut off the steam or remove the pan from the fire, 
let it stand for a few minutes. Then lay the feathers 
down in the bath, taking care that they are well kept 
down in the liquid, work for twenty minutes diligently, 
then let them lodge in the bath for six to eight hours. 
As the combination of cochineal and the chloride is 
readily oxydized and changed' to violet by the oxygen 
of the air, it is advisable to dye in a tinned pan with 
cover to shut out the air. 

Then pass through three lukewarm waters, the last 
of which contains a little chloride of tin and about a 
pinch of cream of tartar. 

II. Prepare a hot bath with twenty per cent, (of the 
weight of feathers) bisulphate of soda, well crystallized 
and dry, and four to six per cent, azo red, according to 



150 OSTRICH FEATHER DYEING. 

shade. Enter the feathers at 170° F., dye to sample in 
fifteen or twenty minutes, lift, starch and dry. 

According to the brand of azo red which is used, 
either scarlet or ponceau is obtained. By mixing the 
various brands of azo red, a very fine ponceau is pro- 
duced. If a very blue tone is desired, add to the bath 
some solution of coccinine (azo red blue touch). 



PONCEAU. 



I. Scour and rinse the white, respectively bleached 
feathers well. Prepare a nearly boiling bath, acidulated 
with sulphuric acid, to which simply add ponceau R. R. 
extra. Enter the feathers, operate at boiling heat one- 
half hour, then lay down the feathers and let them 
lodge until level ; lift, rinse, starch and dr}\ 

II. Prepare a sharp handwarm bath with one per 
cent, tartaric acid (of the weight of feathers), or with 
one per cent. Glauber salt and one-fourth per cent, sul- 
phuric acid, to which add the filtered solutions of pon- 
ceau R. B., ponceau 6 R. B., and eosine S. extra B. 
Enter the feathers and agitate for twenty to thirty min- 
utes, or until the desired shade is obtained ; lift, rinse, 
starch and dry. 






OSTRICH FEATHER DYEING. 151 

III. Lay down the feathers for four hours is a cold 
bath in which some chloride of tin has been dissolved;, 
then dye for one-half hour in a handwarm bath of cochi- 
neal, lift and dry. 

IV. Prepare a bath with one and one-half per cent., 
of the weight of feathers, saccharic acid, one-quarter 
per cent, tin salt, and six to seven per cent, cochineal, 
bring the bath to boil for one minute ; then chill. 
Enter the scoured and rinsed feathers at hand heat, dye 
for three-quarters of an hour, take up and expose them 
for two hours to the air, rinse, starch and dry. 



BORDEAUX. 



Scour and rinse the feathers well. Prepare a boiling 
hot bath slightly acidulated with sulphuric acid, to 
which acid a liberal quantity of ponceau 6 R. B., a few 
drops solution of aniline blue, and some yellow dyestuff, 
such as turmeric, fast yellow, or quinoline yellow, and 
bring the bath to boil for a few minutes. Then chill to 
sharp hand-heat, enter the feathers and work until 
level, and sample ; if still too light, add some more of 
all these dyestuffs. As the bath shows from the begin- 
ning the color it will produce, it can be corrected before 
entering the feathers. 



152 OSTRICH FEATHER DYEING. 

GARNET (RED). 

I. Scour and rinse the feathers well clean, grays 
ought to be bleached. Prepare the dyebath as for pon- 
ceau (I.), or use an old ponceau bath, and add to it some 
aniline cerise (cherry red) and very little extract of in- 
digo, or solution of fast blue-black. Enter feathers as 
hot as possible to handle, work for fifteen to twenty 
minutes while raising the temperature to boiling 
heat ; then stop heating, lay down the feathers, and let 
them lodge until level ; lift, rinse and dry. 

II. Prepare a boiling hot, not boiling, bath of anot- 
to, according to shade, enter the feathers, work them 
well through, then lay them down in the bath for twelve 
hours. Take them up, rinse, pass through a moderately 
strong alum bath, rinse again, and dye at nO°F., with 
either decoction of red wood (brazil, camwood, etc.,) or 
fuchsine ; lift and dry. 



GARNET (BROWN). 

For very deep shades naturally gray feathers may be 
used unbleached with proper consideration of the tone 
of the bottom color. Have the feathers well cleaned 
and rinsed, and add to a bath of two gallons of water, 
one and one-quarter pounds cudbear and five ounces tur- 



OSTRICH FEATHER DYEING. 153 

meric. Bring the bath to boil, boil for five or ten min- 
utes, let cool down to 100° F., enter the feathers and 
dye to shade. Lift, starch and dry. 

Or. utilize a used ruby bath (following) and add to 
it five ounces turmeric. 



RUBY. 



For a good color the feathers must be white, natur- 
ally or bleached ; scour and rinse them well. Add to 
two gallons of water one and one-half pounds good cud- 
bear, stir well, enter the feathers and work them, while 
slowly heating, as long as the hands can stand it. Then 
lay them down until colored to shade, lift, rinse well, 
starch and dry. 



SALMON. 



I. Salmon or " flesh " may be dyed upon bleached 
naturally gray feathers, in which case the creamy tint 
of the feathers must be taken into consideration and can 
be utilized for certain broken tones of the color. Have 
the feathers well washed in soap or soda, and rinsed 
perfectly clean. For dyeing prepare a bath as for rose, 
preferably with ponceau B. R., or utilize an old bath for 



154 OSTRICH FEATHER DYEING. 

rose, according to its strength and the shade to be pro- 
duced, and add in either case a suitable, small quantity 
of filtered decoction of turmeric. Proceed as stated for 
dyeing rose, with the difference only, that the acid may 
be added to the dyebath at once, if the bath is made 
fresh. Particularly fine shades are obtained with rho- 
damine and turmeric, in a bath slightly acidulated with 
acetic acid, upon bleached gra3's. 

II. Prepare a bath as for rose, with some solution of 
eosine, a little quinoline yellow, according to tone, and 
a little acetic acid, just enough to give the bath a 
slightly sour taste. Enter the well cleaned, or bleached 
feathers after rinsing, at hand heat and agitate them 
until the bath is well exhausted, or a level color, accord- 
ing to sample, obtained, rinse lightly, starch and dry. 



AMARANTH. 



After scouring and rinsing, prepare a bath with one 
and one-half ounces alum per gallon of water, at 75-80° 
F., and lay the feathers down in it over night. On the 
next morning rinse them in cold water ; then dye them 
at hand-heat to nearly boiling heat in a strained decoc- 
tion of Brazil wood (or camwood, hy pernio, etc.) until 
the required shade is obtained, and rinse in warm water 



OSTRICH FEATHER DYEING. 155 

to which some tartar has been added ; starch and 
dry. 



BRONZE. 



For this color naturally gray feathers may be used 
if a deep shade is to be dyed ; for light shades they 
ought to be bleached. Scour and rinse the feathers 
well; then prepare a bath with five per cent., of the 
weight of feathers, bisulphate of soda, to which add azo 
orange, acid violet and extract of archil. Dissolve the 
dyestuffs, each separately in water, filter, add the clear 
solutions gradually in small quantities until the shade is 
nearly reached, then, in order to correct, by drops, until 
the exact depth and tone are obtained. Enter the 
feathers and dye to shade at 170° F. Instead of acid 
violet indigo carmine may be used ; in this case, how- 
ever, as the dyestuff runs up slowly and difficultly, 
work at 170° F., for twenty to thirty minutes, then 
raise the temperature slowly to near the boiling point 
and continue at that temperature, without actual boil- 
ing, until the required color is obtained. Then rinse, 
squeeze, starch and dry. 

Bronze is also produced like drab, that is, with azo 
orange, acid violet and fuchsine S., but with greater 



156 OSTRICH FEATHER DYEING. 

quantities of dyestuff. Bronze is also obtained with 
the recipe for any dark brown, by making the yellow in 
it predominant ; particularly good bronzes are in this 
manner obtained from dark chestnut brown. 



OLIVE. 



I. Clean the feathers by laying them down for six 
hours, or over night, in a weak warm solution of soda 
crystals (1° B.) to which add so much ammonia as to 
give it a faint odor ; take up when completely ungreased 
and rinse well in lukewarm and cold waters. Prepare 
the dyebath with five per cent., of the weight of feath- 
ers, bisulphate of soda, to which add filtered solutions 
of indigo carmine, archil and fast yellow as required for 
the sample. As the indigo carmine is slow to dye up 
and requires boiling heat or a temperature near it, dye 
first the feathers blue with indigo carmine, then let the 
bath cool down to 170° F., and add the solutions of ar- 
chil and fast yellow in small successive quantities, so as 
to be able to give the accurate tone. 

Instead of extract of archil, fast red or bordeaux 
may be employed. 

To avoid any possible injury to the feathers by the 
high temperature necessary for indigo carmine to run 



OSTRICH FEATHER DYEING. 157 

up, in its stead a solution of alkaline blue or of acid 
Victoria blue. Take up and dry the feathers without 
rinsing. 

II. Scour well and rinse the feathers, and prepare a 
bath with three per cent, alum (of the weight of feath- 
ers), to which add azo orange and some indigo carmine ; 
enter at 170° F., dye for fifteen or twenty minutes, then 
raise the temperature slowly to near the boiling point 
and dye to shade. Lift and dry. 

By beginning with small quantities of the dyestuffs 
and successively increasing them and varying their pro- 
portions, a series of fine shades from light old gold to 
the deepest olive, near black can be produced. 

III. Prepare a boiling bath, in which dissolve 
one per cent., of the weight of feathers, alum, one per 
cent. Glauber salt, and add a little sulphuric acid ; let 
cool down to 1*10° F., add some fast yellow, a little so- 
lution of archil and of sulphate of indigo, work for fif 
teen minutes while raising the temperature to the boil- 
ing point, and sadden with blue black, lift, rinse and dry 
with starch. 

IV. Prepare a sharp handwarm bath with a little 
sulphuric acid, to which add the clear solution of a little 
quinoline yellow or turmeric, and acid green ; enter the 
feathers and work for fifteen minutes, or until they have 



158 OSTRICH FEATHER DYEJLv^. 

taken a sufficiently nourished yellow-green color ; then 
take them up, add to the bath some solution of fast 
brown, as required by the sample and dye at 170° F. to 
shade ; rinse, squeeze, starch and dry. The brown dye- 
stuff must be added very carefully in small doses, best 
by drops, in order to obtain with certainty any of the 
great varieties of shades, from olive green to olive 
brown, as required. 



VIOLET. 



Naturally gray feathers may be used unbleached, 
but only for very deep shades as the bottom color acts 
dulling upon the dye, and brilliant colors can only be 
obtained upon a pure white bottom. Scour, respectively 
bleach well, and rinse clean. Prepare a hot bath to 
which add some filtered solution of methyl violet, ac- 
cording to tone, that is, more or less blue, enter the 
feathers and work until cool, then add gradually more 
dyestuflf solution according to shade while raising the 
temperature to near the boiling point and continue at 
this temperature until the desired shade is nearly ob- 
tained. If too blue, tone with a little solution of fuch- 
sine S. Towards the end of the operation take up the 
feathers, add some alum to the bath, and when it is dis- 



OSTRICH FEATHER DYEING. 159 

solved, shut off the steam, re enter the feathers and 
work to shade for about ten minutes. Then lift, rinse 
and dry. 



HELIOTROPE AND LILAC. 

I. These colors being simply medium and light 
shades of violet, proceed as for the latter color, select- 
ing for heliotrope the bluish brands of methyl violet, 
and for lilac the red touch mark. The dyebath is acid- 
ified with a little tartaric acid, so as to give it a feeble 
sourish taste and dyeing done at hand-heat until a level 
color is obtained with very little solution of the dye- 
stuff", and more of it gradually added, while the tempera- 
ture is raised to nearly boiling, as required for the 
shade to be produced. Or, 

II. Prepare the dyebath simply of cold water acidu- 
lated with a little sulphuric acid, add a few drops of 
the filtered solution of methyl violet (4 B. for helio- 
trope), and dye to shade without heating. In both 
cases rinse after dyeing, pass through a bath of raw 
starch and dye as usual. 



160 OSTRICH FEATHER DYEINGF. 

CREAM. 

I. The lightest shade of this delicate color can be 
produced upon naturally gray ostrich feathers by simply 
bleaching them ; this color, however, is extremely sen- 
sitive, probably because the action of peroxyd of hydro- 
gen continues under the influence ol the oxygen of the air. 
Bleached grays require, therefore, dying as well as 
naturally white feathers. The feathers being well 
scoured and rinsed, prepare in a white basin (preferable 
to the copper pans, because the coloring of the dyebath 
is easier and more correctly discerned over the white 
bottom) a bath of pretty hot water, to which add a 
pinch of tartaric acid, and a little decoction of turmeric 
or solution of fast aniline yellow or of azo yellow, but 
only enough to give the water a light tint ; work the 
feathers in it for four to six minutes. Then sample and 
correct, if necessary, by adding more dyestuff solution. 
The shade being obtained, pass through cold water, 
starch and dry as usual. 

II. Prepare in a white basin a handwarm bath with 
three or four drops of sulphuric acid and a few drops 
of the filtered solutions of picric acid, fast aniline yel- 
low, quinoline yellow, or mandaric yellow extra, but 
preferably turmeric which dyes up more evenly than the 



OSTRICH FEATHER DYEING. 161 

other dyestuffs. Enter the feathers and agitate them 
for fifteen or twenty minutes ; then lay them down in 
the bath for one-half hour longer to insure a level dye ; 
lift, draw through lukewarm water, starch and dry. 



WHITE AND BLACK. 

Science teaches that white is the source of light or 
the product of combination of all other colors, because 
the light of the sun, which is assumed to be white, when 
broken up by means of a prism, shows in its image re- 
flected upon a white plain, the three primary, and three 
secondary colors with the uncounted number of inter- 
mediary products of combinations of fractions of the 
primary colors forming the transition from one to the 
other, which can be perceived by the eye but not ex- 
actly separated from one another, but may quantita- 
tively determined to an approximate degree of accuracy. 
Black, on the other hand, is described as the absence of 
all light, and it is denied, therefore, by theory a place 
among the colors. 

Practice asserts the direct contrary of the theory 
developed by science by way of conclusion. While 
philosophers assert that they have succeeded in pro- 
ducing white light by the combination of lights of the 



162 OSTRICH FEATHER DYEING. 

various colors, for which combination, however, they 
give no formula, no dyer with the greatest patience and 
with the most subtile proportioning of c^estuffs, giving 
pure reproductions of the primary colors as seen in the 
spectrum or image of the broken sunbeam, can ever be 
able to produce anything of a color approaching white. 
But every dyer knows how to produce white by bleach- 
ing, that is, by the destruction of all color. And this 
operation is comparatively simple and easy to perform, 
since the great achievements of modern chemistry have 
placed into the hand of the dyer the most energetic and 
and effectious color destroying agents. The ostrich 
feather dyer of to-day is able to convert naturally gray 
and even black feathers into nearly pure white, which 
undertaking his father would have called the boast of a 
deranged mind and an absolute physical impossibility. 
And with the aid of a complementary color dyed upon 
the bleached feathers the tint remaining upon them is 
obliterated, or neutralized, which operation is generally 
called " white dyeing," although certainly white cannot 
be " dyed " with a blue or violet dyestuff as little as 
blue or violet can be produced with a yellow dyestuff. 

Black, on the other hand, although the name and 
rank of a color is denied it by the doctrines of theory is, 
for the dyer, most essentially a color requiring for its 



OSTRICH FEATHER DYEING. 163 

production the contribution of all colors, as can be 
shown by a simple experiment. If, for instance, within 
a circle, three equal circles, w T hose diameters are greater 
than half the diameter of the surrounding circle, are 
printed, one blue, one red and one yellow, so that the 
points of contact with the periphery of the outer circle 
are equidistant from one another, or form a regular tri 
angle, their segments overlapping one another form four 
spherical triangles, one violet where red and blue cover 
one another, one orange where red and yellow come to- 
gether, one green where yellow and blue are mixed, but 
the fourth is the centre, where parts of the three differ- 
ently colored segments cover one another, is black, but 
toned by the color of the greatest intensity. In fact, 
black requires for its production more color, and is 
more difficult to dye than any color of the spectrum. 
It is not strange, therefore, that many more methods 
have been proposed and have been tried and adopted to 
dye black than for the production of any other color. 
Yet all these blacks are more or less tinted and are noth- 
ing more than the deepest shade, which can be produced 
with the aid of metallic salts, of blue, brown, gray, vio- 
let, green and even red. The only black upon ostrich 
feathers which may be justly called an absolute black is 
that produced after the method of Mr. Paul, as described 



164 OSTRICH FEATHER DYEING. 

in the front part of this book (page 53-56). It pre- 
sents, besides, the advantage, that it can be completely 
done in eighteen minutes, while there are older methods 
which require not less than three days. Such, of 
course, will find no room here, but only the most relia- 
ble and expeditious, and safest of the older methods 
will be selected with due regard both to beauty of color 
and preservation of the precious material. 



WHITE. 



Naturally white ostrich feathers and bleached grays, 
like all material taken from the animal realm, retains 
even after scouring and bleaching a more or less notice- 
able yellowish tint, which becomes visible after some 
time even upon such as appear snow-white immediately 
after scouring. The cause is, probably, that the fat 
which is contained in feathers, as well as in wool and 
hair, and a part of which remains after the cleaning pro- 
cess, is oxydized by the action of the air. To perfectly 
and completely extract this remaining small amount of 
fat which does not hinder the subsequent dyeing opera- 
tions, is not advisable ; for, it has been observed that in 
that case, the feathers become brittle, and for this 
reason, scouring with soap is preferable to scouring 



OSTRICH FEATHER DYEING. 165 

with soda. It has been observed that colored matter 
taken from the animal body in the course of time loses 
its brilliancy of color and becomes dull ; white feathers 
turn yellowish, even if perfectly protected against dust. 
To prevent this alteration, the bleached feathers are 
" dyed white," or rather blu^d or tinted ; that is, the 
brilliancy of the white is heightened and the faint yel- 
lowish tinge neutralized by the application of a very 
light, scarcely perceptible tint of a complementary 
color. 

For this purpose, for instance, indigo carmine 
(greenish white), indigo carmine with a very small addi- 
tion of ammoniacal cochineal (reddish white), induline 
or extract of indigo (bluish white), or methyl violet 6 B. 
(direct white), are employed, and a few drops of acid 
added to the bath, either sulphuric, acetic or oxalic 
acid. The acid, however, can be dispensed with, as it 
scarcely has anything to act upon, and as only a diminu- 
tive amount of it is employed, the blued feathers are not 
rinsed but immediately dried from the blue-bath. The 
additions of dyestuff to baths must be made so small 
that they do not affect a coloring of the feathers but 
only a faint tinting. Rather too little dyestuffmay be 
added, which defect can at all times be corrected by 
adding a few drops more of the coloring solution, than 



166 OSTRICH FEATHER DYEING. 

too much. In the latter case it would become necessary 
to bleach the feathers again and go over the whole pro- 
cess of preparing the raw material for dyeing. 



BLACK. 



I. Chrome Black. — Black being the most difficult 
color to produce, as above remarked, the feathers re- 
quire a specially careful preparatory treatment in order 
to remove everything that might interfere with the 
purity, uniformity and brilliancy of the color, or cause 
less dyed, dull spots und streaks. Naturally gray 
leathers, however, need not to be bleached or decolor- 
ized but only careful treatment and attention. The 
feathers are lor twenty-four hours laid down in a solu- 
tion of twice their weight of calcined soda, ammonia 
soda being preferable for this purpose to Lablanc soda, 
(old process soda), then taken up and carefully rinsed 
clean from the alkaline in warm water, or better, in two 
warm waters. In the case of particularly valuable 
feathers it is recommendable, before laying them down 
in the soda solution, to rub the stains of the feathers off 
with a piece of carbonate of ammonia or with a large 
soda crystal. After rinsing, the feathers are entered 
for one hour, at 1*70° P., in a bath containing forty per 



OSTRICH FEATLLEK DYEING. 167 

cent., of the weight of feathers, chromate of potash, 
forty per cent, copperas, and twenty per cent, tartar, 
and several times turned and agitated during the speci- 
fied period while the entering temperature is maintained. 
Then the feathers are taken up, and the adhering liquid 
squeezed out by hand or by rolling them through a 
clothes wringer with rubber roller. In the meantime a 
logwood bath of medium concentration is prepared 
either with a fresh decoction or with extract of logwood 
and twenty per cent. Marsailles soap dissolved in it. 
The feathers are entered in this bath at hand-heat, dili- 
gently agitated for twenty or thirty minutes and, if 
necessary, while the temperature is raised to 200° F., 
laid down in the bath until the correct shade and a level 
dye are obtained. The feathers are then lifted, 
squeezed, very thoroughly rinsed in cold water, passed 
through starch and dried with frequent shaking, respec- 
tively beating upon the board or between the hands. 

It occurs sometimes, that the stems of the feathers 
are imperfectly died and present light brown or gray 
places. This is attributable to insufficient scouring. 
In this case the defective portions of the stems must be 
scraped with a sharp penknife and dyed over. This 
operation, however, is difficult and requires much prac- 
tice and a light hand, as too much scraping removes 



168 OSTRICH FEATHER DYEING. 

the horny glossy surface of the stem and, when dyed 
over, the only change effected is, that a dull black mark 
takes the place of the discolored or brown spot. Often, 
however, the defect can be remedied by touching the 
imperfect portions up with a feeble alcoholic solution of 
shellac, in which some nigrosine is dissolved. With 
properly scoured feathers this mishap does not occur. 

Another trouble, however, which is not unfrequent 
with blacks, is that the feathers are over-dyed and 
become brownish black instead of black. But in this 
case the remedy is as simple as its occurence is fre- 
quent ; a quick passage through sulphuric acid diluted 
with water to 2° B. strips off the excessive d>;e and pro- 
duces a good color. Besides, this operation gives the 
feathers a brilliant lustre. Many dyers, therefore, 
methodically avail themselves of this effect of sul- 
phuric acid and deliberately over-dye their feathers (See 
IV below) and then apply the sulphuric acid passage 
for the purpose of imparting the feathers that peculiar 
lustre. A passage through a solution of sodium chlo- 
ride, of 2° B. strength, has the same effect as a passage 
in sulphuric acid 2° B. 

For this purpose lay the feathers down in the warm 
sodium chloride solution, until the black cotton strings 
with which the feathers have been tied together, as in 



OSTRICH FEATHER DYEING. 169 

the beginning described, begin to turn gray. Then 
take up the feathers, rinse them very thoroughly in cold 
water, drain, starch and dry. 

Sodium chloride can be prepared in a simple way as 
follows: rub one-half pound fresh chloride of lime in a 
porcelain mortar with a little water into a smooth milk, 
which pour into a bucket, dilute with cold water, and 
add, under stirring, the solution of one pound Glauber 
salt; let settle and use the clear liquid. Instead of 
Glauber salt (sodium sulphate), soda crystals (sodium 
carbonate) may be used ; the latter, however, is a little 
higher in price and renders the solution strongly 
alkaline. 

II. Iron Black. — Lay down the feathers over night 
in a warm bath, in which one hundred per cent., of the 
weight of feathers, soda crystals have been dissolved. 
On the following day take them up, squeeze them out 
and lay them down for two hours in a proportionally 
strong solution of carbonate of ammonia, take them up 
and rinse well in warm water. Lay down for six hours 
upon a bath of nitrate of iron 10° B. ; take up, rinse, 
and dye at 1*70° F. with the decoction of ten per cent, 
logwood in which five per cent. Marseilles soap has been 
dissolved. If a dead black is wanted, add some decoc- 
tion of quercitron or turmeric to the bath. The de- 



170 OSTRICH FEATHEK DYEING. 

sired depth being obtained, lift, rinse, starch and dry. 
In case the color is over-dyed, strip with sodium 
chloride (or sulphuric acid) 2° B., as above described, 
drain, squeeze and dry. 

III. Logwood Black. — Scour and rinse the feathers 
well. Prepare a bath with three per cent., of the 
weight of feathers, carbonate of lime, six per cent, blue- 
stone, and five per cent, tartar. Enter the feathers at 
110° F., maintain this temperature for one hour ; then 
let it go down, but leave the leathers in the bath for six 
hours longer, agitating them frequently during that 
time. Take them up, drain and squeeze, or centrifu- 
gate, and enter a handwarm bath containing some de- 
coction of logwood, to which some decoction of fustic 
is added. Work for fifteen or twenty minutes, then 
raise the temperature to nearly boiling heat. Continue 
adding decoction of logwood, until a nourished black is 
obtained. This dye being hard to correct by the ordin- 
ary means, the additions of logwood decoction must be 
made with caution towards the end of the operation, in 
order to prevent over-dyeing. If a brownish touch is 
desired, add some more decoction of fustic when the 
black is nearly done. Then lift, rinse, starch and dry 
as usual under continual agitation, beating and shaking 
of the feathers. This chrome black is superior to iron 



OSTRICH F AETHER DYEING. 171 

black, because it imparts, to the ostrich feathers, more 
lustre. 

IV. Whatever kind of feathers are to be dyed, 
white, grays or old blacks, wash them perfectly clean in 
two or three warm soap baths and remove the soap by 
rinsing in two or three warm and several cold waters. 
Colored feathers which are to be redyed blacks must be 
stripped of their color as much as possible by washing 
in hot soap to which some ammonia is added, where- 
upon this must be rinsed in several waters absolutely 
clear from soap and alkali ; it is an erroneous notion to 
neutralize the last trace of alkali which may' remain, by 
a passage through a feeble acid bath. The feathers 
thus prepared for dyeing, make a bath of two parts ni- 
trate of iron to one part hot water at 1^0° F., enter the 
feathers, work them through a few times, and then lay 
them down in the bath for twelve hours (over night). 
Then lift and rinse the feathers in several (three or 
four) cold waters Prepare a pretty strong decoction of 
logwood and fustic, for which take two parts of the 
former to one part of the latter ; let the temperature go 
down to about 208-210° F., when enter the feathers and 
maintain that temperature for fifteen or twenty min- 
utes. Then shut off the steam or remove the dye-vessel 
from the fire, as the case may be, and let the feathers 



172 OSTRICH FEATHER DYEING. 

cool in the bath. When cold take them out, prepare a 
fresh bath of logwood and fustic like the first, enter the 
feathers at 208-210° F., after fifteen or twenty minutes 
add about a teaspoonful of copperas for one gallon of 
water, and leave the feathers in the bath for six or eight 
hours longer ; then lift and rinse in several cold waters. 
The feathers are at this stage black with a strong brown 
touch which is removed by a cleaning bath of Eau de 
Javelle (sodium chloride). The latter is prepared by 
rubbing one-quarter pound chloride of lime to a smooth 
milk with a little cold water (in a porcelain or a marble 
mortar) and adding this milk to the solution of one-half 
pound Glauber salt in three parts water. After good 
stirring the mixture is then allowed to settle, when the 
clear solution is poured off and put up for use in well 
stoppered bottles. Of this liquid so much is added to 
a basin or pan full of warm water that it gives a slippery 
feel between the fingers, similar to that of a solution of 
soda. 

In this bath the feathers are agitated for six or 
eight minutes, or until the liquid has assumed a yellow- 
ish color. Then the feathers are taken out, rinse in two 
or three warm waters, passed through raw starch, 
pressed out between several laps of a clean piece of 
muslin, and dried either by rubbing them in pulverized 



OSTRICH FEATHER DYEING. 173 

and sifted potato starch or by shaking them before an 
open fire or gas flame. 

The nitrate of iron bath can be preserved and used 
for the same purpose for eight or ten days, but the first 
logwood bath becomes useless and is let out. As above 
observed (I) sulphuric acid can also be employed for 
correcting the over-dyed feathers and reducing that 
brownish color to a pure lustrous black, but a much 
shorter passage is given : the feathers are entered by 
single strings, well opened, agitated in the sulphuric 
acid bath for a few seconds, and immediately rinsed. 
Where week work is done, it is advisable to have two 
men employed at this operation, one of whom passes the 
feathers in the acid bath and hand them over to the 
other man for rinsing. 



CONTRASTS AND SHADINGS, OR OMBREES. 

^Fashion and fancy sometimes requires the dyer of 
ostrich feathers to dye upon one feather two, or even 
three contrasting colors, or different shades of the same 
color, that is, the tips of the feathers in another color or 
shade than that of the lower part of the feather. Gen- 
erally in these combinations the tip is dyed the lighter 
color or shade, and the lower part considerably deeper 



174 OSTRICH FEATHER DYEING. 

or in a heavier color. Very popular combinations are : 
the tip light blue and the bottom brown, the tip rose 
and the lower part bordeaux, the tip light orange or 
dark yellow and the lower part garnet brown, tip rose 
with olive bottom part, or even three colors, such as the 
tip rose, the part below it medium olive green, and the 
lowest part deep violet. That such combinations are 
very handsome cannot be asserted ; but fashion dictates, 
and fancy sometimes prefers oddity to beaut}'. More 
rational are at any rate the ombrees, or combinations of 
two or three shades of the same color upon one feather. 
The operation is the same for both styles ; but contrasts 
are generally dyed only upon single feathers, while 
ombrees, being in greater demand, are dyed by strings 
or even in greater lots. The feathers being scoured and 
rinsed as usual, are first dyed wholly in the lightest 
color or shade to be produced, according to recipe, say 
light blue for the tip, and dried. Then wrap the top, as 
far as it is to be light blue, in paper (some dyers use 
for this purpose oiled or waxed paper) and tie the paper 
firmly, but not so hard as to injure the feather, with a 
string, not so loosely as to allow the paper envelope to 
slip out of place during the manipulation. Then, hold- 
ing the feathers by the top, dip them into the boiling 
hot bath for the other color, or shade, to be dyed, but 



OSTRICH FEATHER DYEING. 175 

only so deep that the paper just touches the surface of 
the dye-liquid. This method is the safest for learners 
or new-beginners. For more experienced workers it is 
unnecessary to use the paper wrapping ; they simply 
first dye the light bottom shade, dry or not, according 
to the characters of the two colors (for shadings, half- 
dry feathers, that is, drained and squeezed out, are 
rather preferable), and loosely hold them in the bath for 
the second color, or deeper shade. They have it 
thereby in their power to effect a more gradual transi- 
tion from one color or shade to the other. As the color 
becomes deeper, the longer the feather is immersed in 
the bath, it is plain that the dyer can easily produce 
upon one feather a complete graduated scale of shades. 
Each time, after a shade has been dyed to the required 
depth, the feathers are rinsed in cold water and some 
more d3^estuff solution added to the bath. These addi- 
tions require good judgment, because too much dyestuff 
added would cause an abrupt, dull contrast instead of a 
desirable gradual shaking off, or transition from one 
shade to the other. There ought only a little more dye- 
stuff be added each time, than has been absorbed from 
the bath by dyeing the preceding shade. If paper 
wrappings are used, they must naturally be untied for 
rinsing and replaced by longer pieces before entering 



176 OSTKICH FEATHER DYEING. 

the bath for the following darker shade. After rinsing 
the feathers mast always be well squeezed out. If two 
colors are to be dyed, for instance light blue tip with 
brown lower part, dj e first the whole feather light blue, 
rinse, dry, tie up the tip in paper, and dye the lower 
half brown. 

It needs not to be mentioned that for dyeing 
two or three contrasting colors upon one feather 
only such dyes must be chosen as can serve for bottom- 
ing and topping one another without materially altering 
the character of the topping color. 



EDGINGS OR BORDERS. 

For this style of feather dyeing, use feathers of 
good quality, with wide and well developed vanes. 
They are dyed in two colors and shades only, presenting 
one color, mostly of a light shade, or a white " black " 
on both sides along the stems, while the outer edges lor 
the vanes, or ends of the fibres, are dyed in a different 
color or darker shade. They make a particularly hand- 
some effect when curled over the stem, setting off the 
edges in a fine contrast against the black showing 
through the curls. 



OSTRICH FEATHER DYEING. 177 

To produce edgings an oval pan, as described in the 
beginning, or other dye-vessel of greater length than 
the feathers, and three or four inches deep must be used. 
The well scoured, respectively bleached, and rinsed 
feathers are first dyed the color for the middle part, as 
usual on strings. After rinsing and drying they are 
taken off from the strings and kfc edged " singly. For 
this purpose prepare the dye-bath for the edging color, 
heat to the proper temperature, take the tip and quill 
respectively between the fore-finger and the thumb of 
both hands, dip the feathers edgewise, that is, with the 
ends of the fibres on one side of the stem, or the edge 
of the vane only, into the dye-bath as deep as the edg- 
ing is to be wide, and move the feather in this position 
horizontally forward and backward in the bath until the 
shade is obtained. Then place the feather between sev- 
eral laps of clean dry muslin, squeeze it out by passing 
the hand ov^r it, and dye the other edge in the same 
manner as the first. Finally rinse, starch and dry the 
feather as usual. 

In this connection a chemical reaction is worthy of 
mention, which was discovered about two years ago by 
an accident, and may be advantageously employed for 
the production of edgings upon ostrich feathers, if fur- 
ther developed by experiments. In a large feather- 



178 OSTRICH FEATHER DYEING. 

dyeing establishment, in Berlin, a sheet of paper which 
had been wetted with ammonia, and had become dry 
had been left on a work-table, when one of the em. 
ployees,who was handling a lot of feathers freshly dyed 
with methyl violet, inadvertently put one of the feath- 
ers, which was still moist, upon the impregnated paper. 
After a while, when the feather was picked up, it was 
found that the violet, all round the edge of the feather, 
had turned brilliant green, producing a very pleasing 
effect. It is rational to suppose that with mixed colors, 
in whose composition methyl violet largely enters, simi- 
lar effects can be produced by the action of ammonia ; 
and probably the same is the case with other aniline 
dyestuffs. 



GILDING AND SILVERING. 

Gilded and silvered ostrich feathers are but seldom 
in demand, and then only for grand evening dresses or 
stage effects, and for short seasons, which generally re- 
turn far between. Their production is by no means a 
dyeing process, but rather an operation of surface orna- 
mentation, still the dyer is sometimes requested to per- 
form it. While goose feathers and other feathers of 
small value are wholly gilded or silvered, the gilding of 



OSTRICH FEATHER DYEING. 179 

ostrich feathers consists chiefly in a sprinkling with 
metallic dots, or sometimes in an edging, or is only ap- 
plied to the tip of the feathers, which, from the nature 
of the operation, are treated singly. Such ornamented 
feathers, white as well as dyed, being only used for 
short periods, a permanent fixation of the gold or silver 
upon them is not required, but rather undesirable, as 
they will soon be redyed for other uses. 

For gilding, respectively silvering, a sufficiently ad- 
hesive solution of possibly colorless gum arabic is pre- 
pared and distributed by liana, and by means of a fine 
hair-brush, in smaller or larger dots, as required, over 
the upper side of the feather or along the edges, and 
before the gum solution becomes dry, sprinkled over 
with finely divided gold-leaf or silver-leaf. The feather 
is then turned over, given a few light taps with the 
hand to remove the loose dust of metal, and vigorously 
shaken, partly to prevent the fibres from sticking to- 
gether, partly to remove the remaining loosely adhering 
particles of metal. The operation must be performed 
as rapidly as possible to prevent the gum solution from 
drying before the metallic dust is shaken off. The 
smaller the gum-dots are made, the quicker must the 
work be done, but the less is the danger of the fibres 
being pasted together, and the more elegant the ap. 



180 OSTRICH FEATHER DYEING. 

pearance of the feather. The dots or spangles are 
made of different shapes, in little circles or squares, 
and sometimes arranged so as to form angular designs, 
according to taste and skill of the operator. 

Another very pretty, scarcely more permanent, but 
more frequently applied ornamentation of ostrich leath- 
ers, is the following. 



FROSTING. 

For this purpose the feathers are first dyed in a 
light or medium shade of any color, the effect of frost- 
ing feathers of a dark color being rather unfavorable. 
The feathers are ther, after drying, covered on the up- 
per side with a solution of clear gum arabic, as for gild- 
ing, but more closely, or may even be entirely brushed 
over with the gum solution, and are then, before the 
gum dries, sprinkled over with finely ground white 
glass, or mica, the latter giving the appearance of 
frosted silver. The glass powder or mica powder is 
then quickly and vigorously shaken off, to open the 
fibres and flues as much as possible, while drying. 
Finally, to complete the opening of the fibres, the feath 
ers are steamed at the under side, and shaken in the air 
until open and dry. 






OSTRICH FEATHER DYEING. 181 

Great care is required in curling gilded or frosted 
feathers, that the metal or glass powder is not rubbed 
off in passing the fibres of the vane over the curling- 
knife. This operation being extremely difficult and 
dangerous, the use of a curling-iron, like that used by 
hair-dressers, is preferable to that of the knife. The 
iron is moderately heated, so as not to singe the feath- 
ers; then, beginning at the lower end of the feather, 
a part of the fibres on one side of the stem are taken by 
their ends between the shanks of the iron, the latter 
closed and the fibres wound downwards around it, the iron 
being carried on the under side of the feather towards 
the stem. Then first one side of the vane is success- 
ively curled from the quill up to the tip, when the same 
operation is repeated upon the other half of the feather. 
If, in this manner, the feather should be curled too 
strongly, the fibres are taken between the shanks of the 
warm curling-iron at the stem and simply drawn 
through the iron. 

Numerous ostrich feather dyers and dressers use the 
curling-iron altogether, instead of the knife ; the only 
difficulty for the beginner is to get the proper heat, 
which, however, is soon learned. 

Very pretty effects are also obtained by dyeing the 
feathers a light shade of color, drying, gumming and 



182 OSTRICH FEATHER DYEING. 

sprinkling them with either powdered black glass or 
jet. 



RENOVATING FEATHERS. 

White ostrich feathers which, by long exposure to 
the show-window, or by lying in store for a protracted 
time, have lost their whiteness and turned yellow, and 
dyed feathers which, from the same causes, have become 
dirty, pale and discolored, can be restored to their 
former beauty by washing, respectively redyeing, as fol- 
lows: 

I. A washing process, which is ordinarily only ap- 
plied to white feathers which have become yellow, is as 
follows : Prepare a bath of two gallons of water at 
145°F., to which add half a gallon of liquid ammonia 
(spirits of sal ammoniac, ammonia water) ; enter the 
feathers, work them once well through with the hands, 
and lay them down in the bath over night. On the fol- 
lowing day take them up, wash them once through a 
soap-bath at 145 °F., pass them again through the first 
ammoniacal bath, and rinse well and let them drain. 
Then prepare a bath of cold water, to which add so 
much of a clear solution of methyl violet 6 B., that a 
white china plate held about a foot below the surface of 



OSTRICH FEATHER DYEING. 183 

the water, appears with a faint bluish tint, or such a 
blue tone as is desired ; and add to the bath so much 
sulphurous acid, that it gives the liquid a well defined 
odor. When the sulphurous acid mixes with the tinted 
liquid, the violet color of the latter disappears and 
changes to a greenish tint, which, however, turns again 
to blue upon the feathers when they are afterwards ex- 
posed to the action of the air. The feathers are then 
passed, singly, if possible, through the blue-bath, well 
drained, centrifugated or whizzed, starched and dried 
as usual. 

Colored feathers which have lost their freshness, and 
are to be redyed, are simply washed clean with soap 
and rinsed, or they are stripped of their color, as much 
as possible, with soap and oxalic acid, or bleached with 
peroxyd of hydrogen, as described in the beginning ; 
whereupon they are dyed and treated like bleached new 
feathers, always taking into consideration, however, 
what of the old color may remain upon the feathers, 
may be utilizable as a bottom for the new color, or 
even as a component of it, for instance, in the case of 
many modes and several browns. 

II. Another method of renovating ostrich feathers 
presents the advantages that it is executed without the 
application of heat, that it is a simple cleaning process 



184 OSTRICH FEATHER DYEING. 

which attacks no color, and that it leaves the curling of 
the feathers intact, which is unavoidably taken out of 
them by washing with warm water and soap, or any 
other alkaline detergent substance. It is, therefore, 
only applied to feathers which have lost their purity of 
color by exposure, and whose curling is to be preserved, 
or is worthy of preserving. It is, in part, the same 
process which is known as " dry washing " among 
scourers and dyers of garments, and can be applied to 
feathers of any color and shade, white and even black, 
without exception. 

For this operation fill a basin or small wooden hand- 
tub with benzene, add a handful or two of potato flour 
(sifted potato starch), enter the feathers and rub them 
well through with the starch until clean ; then squeeze 
then out by hand and press between muslin, finally whiz 
or shake them in the air until dry. 

This process is partly chemical, in so far as the ben- 
zene loosens the dust and other impurities which have 
settled upon the feathers, partly mechanical, as the 
numerous fine particles of the potato starch, which do 
not dissolve in benzene as soap does in water, rub these 
impurities off from the feather. By the combined ac- 
tion of the benzene and starch, and the friction applied, 
the feathers are not only cleaned, but the flues com- 



OSTRICH F AETHER DYEING. 185 

pletely opened, so that the feather thus treated looks 
perfectly like new. 

A remarkable feature of this process is that the 
starch carries nearly all the impurities down with itself 
to the bottom of the wash-basin, and becomes soiled, 
while the benzene takes up every little of them, and 
can, therefore, after settling, be poured off from the 
starch sediment, and can be used several times before 
it needs to be purified or eventually becomes unfit for 
use. 

In using benzene, which is a highly combustible sub- 
stance, the utmost precaution must be observed that 
no open flame or fire be in the work-room, neither 
open lamps nor a fire in the stove burning. Even 
doors leading to adjoining rooms, where lights or fires 
are burning, ought to be kept closed while working 
with benzene, because the benzene vapors, which may 
be carried to the flame by a draft of air, would inev- 
itably ignite and cause an explosion and fire. Occur- 
rences of this kind have been not unfrequently ob- 
served. 

Feathers which have been cleaned by this process, 
as well as new feathers, may be dyed by the follow- 
ing process. 



186 OSTRICH FEATHER DYEING. 

DYEING IN THE COLD WAY. 

This process is a real dyeing process, as well as a 
renovating process, both, however, to a limited extent, 
inasmuch as it can be applied only to white feathers or 
to such as are dyed with light and medium shades of 
certain colors which are to be freshened up ; but it does 
not answer lor dark colors. It is, however, extremely 
simple and easy to execute ; besides, almost instanta- 
neous, and therefore of great utility where rapid work 
is required, because it leaves the feathers perfectly in 
shape, like the benzene washing process, aud does not 
affect the curling of the feather, if there is such. Old 
feathers which were already dyed cream, rose, salmon, 
light blue, light gray, light green, sea green, golden 
yellow, heliotrope or beige, can be redyed in the same 
colors, but must previously be washed with benzene; 
new white feathers do not require such washing. 

For this method of dyeing, aniline dyestuffs soluble 
in alcohol are used, viz. : for 

Cream, , . . Curcumine or Aniline Orange, 

Rose, .... Eosine or Ponceau, 

Salmon, . . . Curcumine and Eosine, 

Light Blue, . . Water Blue and Methylene Blue, 

Gray, .... Nigrosine, 



OSTRICH FEATHER DYEING. 187 

Sea-green, . . Malachite Green, 
Golden Yellow,. Orange and Fast Brown, 
Heliotrope, . . Methyl violet 6 B., 
Beige, . . . . Methylene Blue, Curcumine and 
Fast Brown, 
mixed according to tone and shade. 

Operate of follows : Fill a white basin with a suffi- 
cient quantity of alcohol to completely wet the feathers 
in it; add, according to shade, a smaller or greater 
quantity of the clear alcoholic solution of the required 
dyestuff, or mixture of dyestuffs, pass the feathers 
singly, without previously wetting them, three or four 
times through the alcohol bath ; then press them out 
between clean muslin, put a few handfuls of sifted poi 
tato starch upon a clean sheet of paper, and rub the 
feathers with it until thoroughly dry ; finally, shake out 
the starch. 



RECAPITULATION OF GENERAL RULES. 

At all times have the feathers, which are to be dyed, 
scoured well, that is, washed clean from all externally 
adhering impurities, fat, etc. ; natural^ colored feath- 
ers bleached for all light and medium shades to be dyed 
upon them, and rinsed perfectly clean from the scour- 



188 OSTRICH FEATHER DYEING. 

ing or bleaching bath, first in two or three warm waters 
and then in cold water. 

On taking the feathers from any bath, always squeeze 
the liquid out first by drawing the feathers through the 
hand closed upon them, then by placing them straight 
between several laps of clean dry muslin and repeatedly 
passing the hand with quite a smart pressure over it. 
Never transfer the feathers, in any case, from one bath 
to another in a wet, but in a moist condition, or nearly 
dry. 

Never allow the feathers to become dry in the 
course of operations. If it is necessary to interrupt 
work, or to put feathers one sidf for further treatment, 
dry them properly by first passing them through a bath 
of raw starch, in order to have the flues at all times as 
well opened as possible. 

In no case let the temperature of a bath, in which 
feathers are treated, rise to actual boiling, although for 
some dyestuffs a temperature near the boiling point is 
required to make them dye up, to become level or to fix 
them. 

In every instance, where an acid or acid salt is em- 
ployed, either in a separate mordanting or fixing bath, 
or as a component of the dyebath, rinse well before 
drying. 



OSTRICH FEATHER DYEING. 189 

When sulphuric acid is used in the composion of a 
bath, add only so much of it as to give the water a very 
slight, scarcely perceptible acid taste. 

Although some artificial dyestuffs dye up without an 
addition of acid to the dye bath (basic dyestuffs), the 
addition of sulphuric acid, in a very small quantity, to 
the dye-bath is advantageous, rendering the colors 
brighter and also faster. 

When bisulphate of soda is employed, it is not nee- 
essary to also add sulphuric acid to the dye-bath j if it 
is added, however, it must only be in a very small quan- 
tity ; careful rinsing in several warm and cold waters 
after dyeing is required. 

When alum alone is used without any other addition 
as mordant, sulphuric acid may be added, but only in 
the proportion of one tenth or, at the most, up to one 
fifth of the weight of alum, and careful rinsing in sev- 
eral warm and cold waters is the more. indispensably re- 
quired the more acid has been employed. 

All solutions of dyestuffs, as well as of chemicals, 
ought to be carefully filtered, and decoctions of woods, 
etc., strained before adding them to the bath ; never add 
dyestuffs, drugs or chemicals in substance to any bath, 
in order to prevent solid particles from settling upon 
the feathers. 



190 OSTRICH FEATHER DYEINO. 

Never add all the dyestuff probably required or pre- 
scribed by a recipe to the dye-bath at one time, but in 
several small quantities, each time after taking up the 
feathers, stir the bath after making the addition, re-en- 
ter the feathers and watch the progress of the dyeing 
carefully; when approaching the desired shade, add the 
dyestuff very cautiously, by drops if necessary, partic- 
ularly with mixed colors, such as modes. 

Sample in proper time, and take not a whole feather 
for it, but pull off two or three fibres from the lower 
part of a feather, dry them quickly by squeezing be- 
tween dry muslin, match, correct the bath and finish 
dyeing. 

While drying keep the feathers as much as possible 
in constant motion, shake and beat them. 

Do not interrupt operations, if it can be avoided, 
but do the work rapidly and continuously, without 
pausing. 

Keep every utensil scrupulously clean. 

THE END. 



CONTENTS. 



PAGE. 

Preface i 

Growth of the Ostrich Feather Trade, etc. 1 

The Bird, Its Plumage and Habits 3 

Sketch of Dyestuffs, etc 5 

Logwood 5 

Turmeric 7 

Bichromate of Potash 7 

Archil 8 

Safranine 10 

Oxalic Acid 11 

Indigo Blue 11 

Sulphuric Acid 12 

Copperas. 13 

Bismarck Brown 14 

Concentrated Cotton Blue 14 

Koceline 15 

Becipes for Dyeing 16 

Hints about the Dye-house 85 

Miscellaneous Information 88 

Washing Kaw Stock 91 

Shading 94 

Paring, Steaming and Curling 95 

Note of the Publisher 99 



INDEX TO RECIPES. 



B. PAGE 

BIEGE 62 

BLACK 53 

BLEACHING LIGHT COLORS WHITE 18 

BLEACHING NATURAL GRAYS OR BLACKS WHITE 82 

BLUE, ARMY 59 

BLUE, ELECTRIC 65 

BLUE, GEN DARME 57 

BLUE, LIGHT 21 

BLUE, MEDIUM 67 

BLUE, NAVY 31 

BRONZE 74 

BROWN, BISMARCK 28 

BROWN, MEDIUM 66 

BROWN, OLIVE 81 

BROWN, SEAL 29 

C. 

CARDINAL 33 

CHOCOLATE 75 

COFFEE 79 

CORN 64 

CREAM 25 

D. 

DRAB, FELT 46 

DRAB, PLAIN 78 

E, 

ECRU 23 

G. 

GARNET 40 

GRAY, SILVER 26 



INDEX. 



PAGE 

GREEN, BOTTLE... ; 43 

GREEN, MEDIUM 61 

GREEN, PEA 80 

I*. 

LAVENDER 38 

LEMON r 52 

LILAC 56 

M. 

MAGENTA 69 

MAROON 51 

MOSS 76 

O. 

OLD-GOLD v 39 

OLIVE 36 

ORANGE 48 

P. 

PINK, LIGHT 20 

PLUM 35 

PURPLE 60 

S. 

SALMON 71 

SCARLET 50 

SEA-FOAM 70 

SLATE 47 

STEEL 45 

STONE 73 

STRAWBERRY, CRUSHED .". 34 

T. 

TERRACOTTA A . 42 

TRILUEL 58 

W. 

WHITE 16 



INDEX TO SAMPLES. 



B. PAGE 

BIEGE 34a 

BLACK 70a 

BLUE, ARMY 46a 

BLUE, ELECTRIC 70a 

BLUE, GENDARME 40a 

BLUE, LIGHT 26a 

BLUE, MEDIUM 34a 

BLUE, NAVY G4a 

BRONZE t 64a 

BROWN, BISMARCK 76a 

BROWN, MEDIUM 82a 

BROWN, OLIVE 52a 

BROWN, SEAL 76a 

C. 

CARDINAL 82a 

CHOCOLATE 34a 

COFFEE 52a 

CORN 34a 

CREAM 26a 

DRAB, FELT 40a 

DRAB, PLAIN 58a 

E, 
ECRU 30a 

Ct. 

GARNET 40a 

GRAY, SILVER 30a 

iii 



INDEX. 



PAGE 

GREEN, BOTTLE 52a 

GREEN, MEDIUM 82a 

GREEN, PEA 64a 

LAVENDER 26a 

LEMON 20a 

LILAC 20a 

M. 

MAGENTA 64a 

MAROON 46a 

MOSS , 70a 

O. 

OLD-GOLD 82a 

OLIVE 58a 

ORANGE 76a 

P. 

PINK, LIGHT ~ 20a 

PLUM 58a 

PURPLE 46a 

S. 

SALMON 26a 

SCARLET 70a 

SEA-FOAM — 30a 

SLATE 40a 

STEEL 46a 

STONE 52a 

STRAWBERRY, CRUSHED 76a 

T. 

TERRACOTTA »« 58a 

TRILUEL 30a 

W. 

WHITE 20a 



CONTENTS OF APPENDIX. 



PAGE. 

General Remarks 103 

Utensils 107 

Preparation of Feathers 107 

Cleaning, Bleaching, etc 109 

Drying or Starching Ill 

Bleaching or Decolorizing Natural Grays.... 112 

Peroxyd of Hydrogen 114 

Light Blue 115 

Navy Blue 117 

Gendarme Blue 119 

Plum or Prune 119 

Light Yellow 121 

Medium Yellow 121 

Dark Yellow 122 

Golden Yellow 123 

Old-Gold 124 

Gray 125 

Pearl Gray 126 

Silver Gray 126 

Brown 127 

Light Brown 129 



CONTENTS OF APPENDIX. ii 

PAGE 

Bust Brown. 130 

Red Brown 130 

Coffee Brown 131 

Puce.. 132 

Fawn 133 

Chestnut Brown 133 

Hay anna 134 

Mushroom 135 

Light Drab 136 

Beige 137 

Modes 138 

Reseda ■■ 140 

Ordinary Green ■ 141 

Light Green 142 

Moss Green 143 

Bog Green 143 

Grass Green 144 

Russia Green 144 

Rose , 146 

Red 147 

Fast Alizarine Red 147 

Scarlet 148 

Ponceau 150 

Bordeaux 151 

Red Garnet 152 

Brown Garnet 152 



Ill 



CONTENTS OF APPENDIX. 



PAGE 

Ruby 153 

Salmon 153 

Amaranth 154 

Bronze 155 

Olive. 156 

Violet 158 

Heliotrope and Lilac 159 

Cream 160 

White and Black 161 

White 164 

Black 166 

Contrasts, Shadings, etc 173 

Edging or Borders 176 

Gilding and Silvering 178 

Frosting 180 

Renovating Feathers 182 

Dyeing in the Cold Way 186 

Recapitulation of General Rules 187 






. 



s 



PECIALTIESfe 

FOR FEATHER AND SILK DYERS 



PH. H. KARCHER & CO., 
55 CEDAR ST., NEW YORK, 

Sole Agent for GILLIARD, P. MONNET and CARTIER'S 

FRENCH ANILINE DYES 

IMPORTERS OF 

DYESTUFFS, EXTRACTS, CHEMICALS, &c. 



-ESTABLISHED 1861- 



HENRY A. GOULD & CO. 

IMPORTERS AND JOBBERS OF 

Indigo, Cutch, Dyewoods. 

GENERAL AGENTS 

Celebrated " Berlin Brand" Non-Poisonous Aniline Colors, including 

Substantive Dyes, and many varieties Soloble in Oils, &c. 

MANUFACTURED BY 

Mien Cjegellgchaffs to Anilin-F&M^&iiion, 

BERLIN, GERMANY. 

H &. 19 Pearl Street, Boston. 78 William Street, New York. 
71 North Front Street, Philadelphia. 



A. KLIPSTEIN, 

52 Cedar Street, NEW YORK. 

ANILINE COLORS, 

And all Dyestuffs and Chemicals used in Feather Dyeing. 
BRANCH OFFICES:{i!$ ^S.^t^HaSe.ph.a. 

WM. J. MATHESON «fc CO., 

20 Cedar Street, New York. 

rramph uniiQFc • 5 147 Mi,k St., Boston. 18 N. Front St., Philadelphia. 
ukanin Huu&tb . { 2 2 S. Water Street, Providence, R. I. 



IMPORTERS OF AND DEALERS IN 



Coal Tar Colors and Dyestuffs 

MANUFACTURERS OF 

Dyewood, Sumac and Indigo Extracts, and Carmines. 



American - - 
Ultramarine 
and Globe - - 

Aniline 

Works 



H E. LLE. R 
MERZ, 

PROPRIETORS, 

55 Maiden Lane, 
New York. 



P.O. Box 3508. 



Rose Bengal, Phloxine, 
Erythrosine, Eosine, 

Fuchsine, Violet, 

of Superior Quality. 



John M. Sharpless & Co. 

MANUFACTURERS OF 

SOLID AND PASTE 

EXTRACTS-DYEWOODS 

CUT AND BOLTED 



IMPORTERS OF 



Cutch, Indigo, Chemicals, &c. 

Office: 20 & 22 N. Front St., Philadelphia, Pa. 



JOHN J. KELLER & CO., 

NEW YORK-39 BEAVER ST. 

PHILADELPHIA-114 N. FRONT ST. 

BOSTON AGENTS: 
PUTNAM & FOLEY, 108 PEARL ST. 

ANILINE COLORS 

OF 

JOH. RUD. CEICY &. CO., Basel, Switzerland. 

DAVIS & WALTON, 

MANUFACTURERS AND IMPORTERS OF 

DYESTUFFS 

AND 

ANILINE COLORS 

Black Dye, Cutchine and Sakta. 

372 & 373 Atlantic Ave., Boston. 122 & 124 Arch St., Phila. 
46 Gold Street, New York. 



GROUND TURMERIC, 

High Grade Chip Logwood 

FOR FEATHER DYEING. 

DYESTUFFS * CHEMICALS. 

NEW YORK DYEWOOD, EXTRACT 
£ AND CHEMICAL CO., 

OFFICE: 55 BEEKMAN STREET, NEW YORK. 

WORKS-BROOKLYN. 



E.SEHLBACHiCO. 

48 CEDAR ST., NEW YORK. 16 HAMILTON ST., BOSTON. 

200 MICHIGAN ST., CHICAGO. 1 1 N. FRONT ST., PHILADELPHIA. 

ANILINECOLORS 



R. HOLLIDAY'S SONS, 

128 MILK ST., BOSTON. MASS. 45 N. FRONT ST., PHILADELPHIA. 

PRINCIPAL OFFICE: 7 PLATT ST., NEW YORK. 

MANUFACTURERS OP ALL 

AHILIITE GOLORS, ARCEIL, EHRACT OF INSIGO, &c. 

PATENTED OF ACID MAGENTA. 



WORKS-Brooklyn, N. Y. ; Huddersfield and Wakefield, England. 

SCHOELLKOPF, 

HARTFORD & 

MACLACAN, Ltd 

3 Cedar St., ^^^^^^k 103 Milk St., 

NEW YORK. ^^Sij^ BOSTON. 

42 N. Water St., PHILADELPHIA. 

SOLE AGENTS FOR 

SCHOELLKOPF ANILINE AND CHEMICAL CO. 

BUFFALO, N. Y. 



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